Perfection is the Enemy of Progress

Winston Churchill stated that “perfection is the enemy of progress.” Perfection is something many artists get tangled up in. Striving for it and hating everything that they create because it isn’t perfect. Some get so trapped by it that they stop creating all together due to the self-deprecating thoughts and hateful emotions surrounding that elusive goal.

Your constant drive for perfectionism can prevent you from even trying and ultimately stop all progress. (Photo Credit: 123RF.com Image ID: 47013353 Copyright: STUDIO GRAND WEB)

Some of us are worse than others. I also have a thing with perfectionism. My style is photo-realism. It has to look like a photograph. There is inherently a good deal of perfection, or the idea of it, in that style. However, I do not let it cripple me. But for many, perfection and anxiety go hand in hand. Art becomes more of a dreaded activity than a pleasurable one.

So, if perfection is the enemy of progress, but you happen to be wrapped up in the pursuit of it,
how do you let it go?

First of all, get it through your head that nobody’s perfect. I’m not perfect. You’re not perfect. Absolutely no one is perfect. Secondly, it is impossible for imperfect people to create perfection. It’s just not going to happen. Think of a cake pan with a dent in it. There is no way possible that the dented cake pan will ever create a cake that doesn’t have that dent.

So, if there is no perfect, why try?

Perfection is the enemy of progress because it stops you from creating the best work you can do no matter how imperfect you are. Imperfect people can improve with practice. That in itself is a joy to experience. There is a quote by Paul H. Dunn that reads, “Happiness is a journey, not a destination; happiness is to be found along the way not at the end of the road, for then the journey is over and it’s too late. The time for happiness is today not tomorrow.”

Not everything that you create will come out how you desire. Perfection is an illusion. Enjoy the journey and learn from your mistakes. (Photo Credit: 123RF.com Image ID: 94936923 Copyright: VITALY AGABABYAN)

In order to improve, one needs to make mistakes. Lots of them. But your drive for the impossible will do everything in its power to prevent you from making them. It can literally paralyze you. If your fear of creating anything less than perfect grows strong enough, you forget the joy in creating for the sake of creating. You’ll stop creating altogether. Sure, mistakes can be disheartening, but they’re valuable if you can look past it and learn from it.

Pro status doesn’t happen right out of the gate.

Nobody starts off with perfection. To illustrate how perfection is the enemy of progress, imagine if I allowed that illusion to stop me in the 1st grade! (Photo Credit: Myra Naito Art Credit: Myra Naito, 1st grade)

Thirdly, remember that nobody was born an expert. Pro athletes weren’t pros from day one. And pro athletes still miss plays and get fouled out of games. Academy Award winners weren’t A-list actors on their first gig. They also have movie flops and bad reviews. Big-name musicians didn’t sell out arenas on day one. And they still have albums that don’t sell as well as others. Top-notch surgeons, specialists in any field, or any other expert in any profession you can think of didn’t start off that way. Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and the creators of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Amazon didn’t get it right the first time either. They all had to start at the beginning and make lots of mistakes to attain their pro or expert status.

Why do you think it should be any different for you?

Mistakes are only bad if you learn nothing from them. (Photo Credit: 123RF.com Image ID: 18956158 Copyright: feelart)

Imagine if any of them let missing the mark discourage them from trying again. Making mistakes is the avenue for learning. Learning is the means by which you become experienced. Becoming more experienced is the path to expert level. Looking at it from that perspective, why wouldn’t you look forward to the mistakes?

If everything you did was perfect, there’s no challenge, no excitement to what you’re doing. You don’t learn anything from having done it. In my humble opinion, the fact that there is no perfect, is half the fun. It takes the pressure off and gives free rein for experimentation, mistakes, making ugly work, and learning from the experience. Take the pressure off of your shoulders and give yourself the luxury of not being perfect!

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