Learning comes from doing rather than aiming for perfect results

For full experience we highly recommend going to your music provider and play “Odyssée | L’Impératrice” (link to Spotify!) as you are reading this, promise it’s worth it. Ok back to the topic now!

There is this stage, analysis paralysis possibly, that many people get stuck on, since we are trying to have the perfect result every time. While it is totally understandable, it is impossible to get the perfect result every time.

What if we actually learn the most from being in the field, trying, failing, and doing what we think we should do? What if this is the actual key?

In theory, everybody can discuss the plans, the ideal layout, the engineering, the garment, the cuff, everything you might think of. But when it’s time to execute, what then? That’s what we are trying to figure out today.

Well, aiming for perfect results every time is actually okay, as long as this is not the only option. Of course, everybody should always aim to work via their best output or options, but it should also be done with the understanding that it might not be perfect, and might be very different from what we see in our mind or our creative world, and that’s okay, as long as we are okay with it.

“Perfect” in itself is a super interesting state of something, in general, regardless of field or body of work, as it is defined in real time by the person who’s looking to find it.

Once it is defined, and the project hasn’t reached that state, a few things can suffer. Motivation can go down since “the goal” wasn’t achieved (putting the work itself should be enough in today’s landscape, but okay, go on).

It can reflect progress as what it’s not, ultimately distorting the project in the grand scheme of things, and cut success short of what it could have been, sabotaging it all if it takes up too much space mentally and visually.

Well, well, well, here we are again - 30-something articles later, 6,000 and something subscribers (grateful!), and still, somehow, we reach out to our all-time mentor and inspiration, Virgil Abloh.

Virgil is the best example here. The pace at which he put projects out shows how to shy away from perfection. If we were chasing perfection, we’d be stuck on projects far longer than we should, and the output would suffer.

Look at the Pyrex Vision 23 Logo Flannel. V literally bought a Ralph Lauren flannel, printed “Pyrex” and “23” on it, and sold it. Was it perfect? No. But that’s the most important part, it led to something brand new. Years later, V was at LV. What does it mean?

Another example is J. Cole recording in Queens before he was famous. The project wasn’t perfect, but he still put it out there. Fans are still going back to that project today. IT DONT HAVE TO BE PERFECT!

Saw this Are.na block today, think it was Tyler who said something like, “Create like a child, perfect like a scientist,” or something around that. Don’t remember it exactly, but it was influential enough to stick, haha - Ideas -

1. Create first, look at it, play some good music, and revisit.

2. Create first, look at it, change what you consume abruptly. Watch a video, go back to your project and you’ll notice the small touches that are needed, if any.

While working on a project, it’s often easy to fall into the trap of overthinking and believing that something is always missing. But looking at other people’s work helps us understand that nothing is perfect. From that perspective, we can return to our project, tweak small things, and put it out there.

At the end of the day, just create for the sake of creating and fulfillment. If it’s perfect to you, then mission accomplished. Maybe just don’t get caught up in what other people might think, because at the end of the day, it’s your work, not theirs. All they can do is enjoy it for a moment; for you, the joy is eternal.