Are you a perfectionist? Do you find yourself holding back, not doing things, because you know they’ll never be as good as you wish? There’s a better way! Listen to find out what life is like on the other side.
This episode is inspired by my original Imperfectionist Manifesto blog post, in which I tell a story of a musician I admire. The man’s chops are off the charts, but sadly, he despises his own work, and would love to recall every CD he ever created.
It made me so sad to realize that instead of enjoying his talent, he was tortured by his perfectionism (as I have been most of my life).
This got me thinking, and I came up with five maxims that ultimately formed the seed of my Imperfectionist Manifesto poster (below), and which I elaborate on in the podcast episode, and the blog post that inspired it:
- Even if you can’t stand what you’ve created, you never know how it may affect somebody else.
- Ultimate value doesn’t always have anything to do with technical skill
- Putting stuff out into the world is really gratifying
- Allowing yourself to be imperfect is a helluva lot more fun
- The more you let yourself be imperfect, the more stuff you’ll actually do, and the better you’ll get at it
I conceived of the idea of a poster when I wrote that initial post, back in 2011. The poster, however, took me two and a half years to create because of (wait for it) perfectionism!
Thankfully, I eventually realized that it was perfectionism/fear of not being good enough holding me back, and that I could practice imperfectionism in the creation of the poster! 🙂
(For more backstory on the making of the poster, and the troll who flamed me for it when I shared in-process pics, click here.)
Click on the image below to download my manifestos poster for free!
Resources Mentioned in this Episode
This American Life’s Ira Glass description of the creative gap:
Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo. (See Ira’s full-length video (~5 mins) on YouTube.)
Get the Poster!
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Now go get creating!
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Get the Poster!
It’s a colorful, hand-lettered version of my Imperfectionist Manifesto, combined with my Creative Sandbox Manifesto, so you get two posters in one!
It’s ready for printing and posting on your wall where you can consult it daily (I sure do!) Just click the link to download:
Great podcast! My favorite artist would be Van Gogh. The Starry Night is just a beautiful piece. The blue colors, and how it grabs your attention in magical way. Plus, us redheads have to stick together. Perfectionism does hold me back from my book app, but when I show my working progress. It helps me to move on.
Thanks, Ronnie! I love Van Gogh too. 🙂 And yes, us redheads definitely have to stick together!
Showing work in progress can be so scary. The more I do it, the less the fear stops me, though I don’t know that’s it’s really gone away. 🙂
I love your podcasts! You make so much sense and this one addresses me to a tee! Perfectionism has stopped me in my tracks so much in life. Awesome!! I will join you in imperfectionism. Here’s to throwing it down and creating!!!
Aw, thanks so much, Delene! And welcome to the ranks of the imperfectionists! Yay! 😀
I once heard someone say that what other people think about you is none of your business…how freeing this is! You’re no longer invested in other people’s opinions of you/your art.
I once was planning to enter a design contest for a whole line of paper party items: plates, napkins, etc. The hot trend was Tiki, so I drew the Tiki statue I have in my studio and added appropriate tropical plants and hot colors. I felt the design was good, but my rendition of it in colored pencil was lacking “punch.” Unfortunately, the deadline was upon me and I didn’t have time to re-do it in another medium. The perfectionist in me stopped me from sending it into the contest, and I’ve regretted it ever since.
Yes, that is incredibly freeing, Jo! And regrets like that one are great teachers — I bet you wouldn’t make that same choice again! 🙂