ep.03: failed at perfection

I used to think that to be a good designer, you had to be perfect.

Pixel-perfect.

Logically perfect.

Deadline-perfect.

That concept had kept me in place for such a long time.

It kinda paralysed me and prevented me from ever truly finishing the project I was working on.

I tried to please the unknown Recruiter sitting behind a different screen and to shoot blindly to impress someone I don’t even care about.

I learned that perfection and excellence are not the same thing.

And it's certainly not sustainable.

Perfectionism prevented me from sharing my work online.

It delayed projects.

It caused me to obsess over details that no one else noticed, while I missed the bigger picture.

Even worse, it made me feel like a failure when I received feedback.

Over the years, I’ve had to unlearn perfectionism.

I became more compassionate about my work and my progress.

More compassionate about myself, above all things.

I’ve had to let go of the idea that a design has to be 'finished' to be valuable, and embrace the

idea that good work evolves.

Now, I aim for:

Done, not perfect.

Strong, not flawless.

iterative, not final.

Some of my best work didn’t start out that way. They improved through collaboration, critique and, yes, releasing them before I felt ready.

I still catch myself chasing perfection.

But now I know that perfection is a moving target and that progress is real.

So, to all of the designers out there that are chasing perfection and can’t help themselves I say this - don’t forget to be compassionate and respectful toward yourself and to trust the process of failing to get to where you need to get to.