I was never good at French. In fact, I once got an 11 out of 100 on a high school French test.  My teacher ridiculed me. My friends howled with laughter. It actually was pretty funny.

But I had to pass French to graduate and I really wanted to go to art school. That motivation, that goal to go to art school was enough for me to find a way– with some false starts– to figure out how to study and pass that class. Persistence paid off.

Passing was all I was trying to do in that specific case. The funny thing is when I went to France I actually held my own in conversations.

There was no fear of getting stuck in aiming for perfection in that one. Wasn’t looking for it. I didn’t wait to become fluent in French before I went over there. I put in a good effort, and I booked my trip. When I got there, I did ok, and that was enough to function while I was over there.

Sometimes when it is something that we really care about, we can get so lost in trying to make it perfect that we never ship it or we never finish it. We get caught too caught up with being a perfectionist.

This odd combination of ego and fear is really just a form of procrastinating.

There are some funny stories in todays podcast. I’m wondering if you can look at your own life and where you might be procrastinating by aiming for perfection. Think about it while you spend some time outside this week with the sun on your face, clearing your mind.

Then ship.

Episode #21