I'm not sure where this started, perhaps in our teenage years, but we've somehow convinced ourselves that we need to become an "expert" before we ever take the first step.
We tell ourselves that the perfect starting point needs to be in place - all the knowledge, skills, and resources perfectly aligned - before we can even begin.
Mostly, the thinking goes, why would I want to risk failure or embarrassment by jumping in before I'm truly ready?
I think it's a common tendency for us to want this level of control and preparation. Which usually stems from a psychological belief that the highest chance of winning or succeeding comes from ensuring all the stars align in the sky before taking action.
But when we move away from preconceived ideas, come back to reality and develop a bit of objectivity, this is often far from the truth.
From my own experience, I know this impulse all too well. I can recall a good number of times where the fear of not getting things exactly right from the start prevented me from ever getting going in the first place.
Looking back, it all seems too counterproductive and my inherent loss aversion would kick in, getting stuck in a cycle of endless research, planning, and preparation - all in the pursuit of that elusive, perfect starting point.
No Tangible Progress
Take my attempt at launching a new creative project, for example. I had this grand vision in my head of what the final product needed to look like, but I kept getting bogged down with unnecessary details, unable to move past the planning stage.
Convinced that if I didn't have every detail mapped out in advance, I would inevitably fail. Needless to say, I made very little tangible progress during that whole period.
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The real progress came when I loosen much of the grip of my need for perfection, picked up a pen and paper, create an MVP and start promoting it that I finally began to see results.
The Wright Brothers faced a similar challenge when they set out to build the world's first powered, sustained, and controlled airplane flight.
Unlike the modern world that often emphasizes preparation and perfection, they didn't have the luxury of waiting until they had a fully-developed aircraft.
So they simply embraced an iterative approach, testing, failing, and refining their design over and over again until they achieved definitive success.
The Power Of Imperfect Starts
This "get going then get good" mindset is crucial, not just for ambitious feats of engineering, but for any endeavor we wish to pursue, especially the seemingly difficult creative ones.
What's really interesting about taking that crucial first step is that we open ourselves up to a world of continuous learning and improvement.
Sure, our initial attempts will be clumsy or imperfect. We may even feel like we're making a fool of ourselves at times (which is all part of the learning process). But that's all part of the process.
In a nutshell, an antidote for getting stuck in the paralysis of perfectionism is the power of just getting going.
Start small, start messy, start imperfect - but start. The rest will follow. At the end of the day, you can't get good without first getting going or can you?
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