A lesson I need to learn

“Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” – Voltaire

I found this on the Happiness Project. I had heard this quote many times, but didn’t know where it came from. If Gretchen did her homework (and I believe she does), then I finally know. Regardless, this is becoming my mantra.

I find myself staring at projects all the time, afraid to start because it won’t meet my expectations. I suffer from the drive that everything must be perfect. I don’t know why. I have been talking to people about it and we haven’t come up with the answer yet.

I really like this post from Gretchen. It resonates with me. I tried it today. I had a project I had been dreading for quite awhile. Today I just started. I didn’t expect to finish it or even make much headway. And I didn’t.

But I did get started and that is enough for me. I just needed the space to say it is in flight and that it doesn’t have to be perfect. Sometimes I think Stephen Covey’s “begin with the end in mind” is not a good place for me. I can image up all kinds of perfect ends. I get the end so perfectly in mind I don’t know how to start. Sometimes I need to just begin.

And so I did. And it felt good.

The search for… perfection????

Well, it seems my first roadblock is my being a perfectionist. Every day since my last post, I have said, “I need to sit down and write something.” I have even sat down, booted the computer and… played mah jong, solitaire, anything to keep from writing. I was thinking about that today. I think my problem is I want it to be perfect.

I read a few blogs regularly and those people always have such great posts. They are concise, well, written and enjoyable. Some go places I wouldn’t go myself, but they interesting. Some I read regularly because they help me understand myself better.

Like the Great Oz said, I need to quit reading about life and starting doing something. I was reading a book last night about job hunting and said to myself, I need to put this down and actually organize my network contact list, like the chapter I am reading says. But, my wife was using the laptop, I didn’t have my list in a convenient place to reorganize and I hadn’t figured out how I wanted it to look yet. So I kept reading. I can talk myself out of just about anything worthwhile. I think the Great Oz knows me pretty well.

So, after my wife was done with the computer tonight, I took the computer to write a couple quick email before bed. I kept saying, “I need to post something.” Well, here I am, tossing something off because I want to make this into a habit and there is no other way besides writing.

I can’t make this perfect. It has to be messy. It has to be a search, and searches are not structured or clean. My first assignment to myself is a free write on passion. A free write is something I picked up in college a few years ago (the second time I went, not the first). The idea is to take the topic, set a timer and put whatever comes to mind on the paper (or keyboard, in this case). Punctuation, spelling and formatting are not important. The goal is to put as many words onto paper as possible. Stream of concious thought is the desire. No editing is allowed after the fact. It is a peek into your mind. That can be scary, if it is an honest free write. Well, tomorrow. That is what I will do. Right after I fix my bike tire, start making a couple pens and perhaps a few games of mah jong. Ouch! I can feel the Great Oz beating me.