I’ve been working on a new project and there is a strong desire to make the launch perfect. While I am pushing to make the product the best that it can be—based upon my current skills and abilities—I also realize that perfection is not possible. I can only make it as good as I am able to today.
Could the temptation of perfection be summarized as a desire to bank on tomorrow’s abilities today without any idea of what those abilities will be?
I can make assumptions that I will be better in the future at what I do. As I look back over my career, I am a much better filmmaker today than when I started 16 years ago. I can only assume that my work will get better in the future. But the only way for that to happen is to consistently ask myself an important question, “Am I willing to suck?”
While I have released a lot of work in the past two years, from podcasts and videos to newsletters and blog posts, I also have not released work because I didn’t want to suck.
If I never release the product, I can keep working on my abilities, pour them into the project allowing it to improve. Or I can just answer the question—”am I willing to suck?”—with a resounding yes and press the Publish button.