Ever got into the ‘when is good, good enough’ debate? I seem to all the time, especially with people who are scared to put themselves out there in the public eye, or the sight line of their potential clients, until everything is perfect. Of course nothing is ever perfect, but it is probably good enough.
When you choose to put something out into the world you immediately open yourself up for criticism, potential ridicule and even failure, it’s a risky business. The trouble is if you keep your best stuff, your knowledge or your opinions hidden from the world you don’t just risk failure, you actively invite it.
Perfectionism is one of the best excuses on the planet for not taking action. Very often it has nothing to do with whether the piece of work, be it a blog, an email, or a video, is actually ready to share. It can be checked, proof read and checked again and still sitting in draft format not shared with those who need to see or hear it, simply because the ‘perfectionist’ isn’t sure whether it is good enough.
Think about this for a moment, you spend your business time – whether a little or a lot, creating something designed to engage your community, then you don’t send it to the intended audience. Instead you spend more valuable time checking it, tweaking it, and still it does not go. Not because there is anything wrong with the piece of work, but because you feel uncomfortable putting it out there. What a waste of time! If you were employed – working on someone else’s dollar you wouldn’t do that, why rob yourself of such precious time.
Why? Because it is scary, you don’t know if people will like it, or you by extension. You may not know for sure that your content is good enough, and if you never test it with real people you will never know. What you may do is sit in your chair and pontificate about whether it needs another read, a few more tweaks etc; wasting more time and emotional energy, while at the same time letting yourself off the hook because you are a perfectionist after all.
I get it, I’ve been there, and still can be without some self control and making sure I stay in touch with the bigger picture – which is to help you play big and be the best you can be in your business. Then I remember why I’m writing this stuff, or making a video, and all of a sudden my excuses or tendencies towards perfectionism seem very inadequate. Yes the odd typo or grammatical error is unfortunate and undesirable, but not sharing stuff I believe can help others is a whole lot worse.
For me imperfect action trumps perfectionism every time, of course check your work, or get someone else to proof it, then get it out to it’s intended audience, that is the only way it will have any business impact.
If you believe your blog or video will help or educate those you are making a difference for then it is good enough – get it out there.