To really like my work I have to look at it with different eyes. I have to forget everyone who did it better or faster, and remind myself that no one has ever done it quite the way I have. I have to remind myself that the people I compare myself to probably compare themselves to others and that if they let their self-doubt keep them from creating... See more

the real struggle of perfectionism isn’t the impossibility of perfection — it’s the constant feeling of failure.

I’ve long lived as if there’s a silent critic in the corner, watching and grading me. Is my kitchen clean? Do my pants fit? Did I complete everything on my to-do list? Did I journal, meditate, exercise? Did I try hard enough? Did I make... See more

Here is a classic pattern: you try really hard to do something GOOD, then you fail, or you make something silly. And it is the failures that people love, or the thing that was just a silly thing. So try to set yourself up to failure, to not doing the thing that is right, but the thing that just sort of happens when you are not trying.

When you believe the work before you is the single piece that will forever define you, it’s difficult to let it go. The urge for perfection is overwhelming. It’s too much. We are frozen, and sometimes end up convincing ourselves that discarding the entire work is the only way to move forward. The only art the world gets to enjoy is from creators... See more