“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” — Zig Ziglar
Perfect is the enemy of good. (Good is the enemy of great.)
Perfectionism is a double-edged sword (雙面刃). On one hand, it can drive individuals to achieve great heights, pushing them to strive for excellence and meticulousness in their endeavors. On the other hand, it can lead to chronic dissatisfaction and overwhelming stress.
“I think it will start poorly, but who knows how it will end.”
Embracing this mindset allows for a more balanced approach to perfectionism.
Remember: You have to start poorly to end well.
The Challenges of Perfectionism
- Fear of Failure: Perfectionists often avoid taking risks due to the fear of making mistakes or not meeting their own high standards.
- Procrastination: The pressure to produce perfect work can lead to avoidance behaviors, where individuals overthink and delay starting tasks due to anxiety about their performance.
- Burnout: Constant striving for perfection is exhausting and can lead to physical and mental burnout.
- Low Self-Esteem: Perfectionists may tie their self-worth closely to their achievements, leading to feelings of inadequacy when they inevitably fall short.
History remembers those who got to market first. Getting your creation out into the world is more important than getting it perfect.
If you don’t succeed in your first attempt, just call it version 1.0 and move on.
追求當一個「完整」的人，而非「完美」的人 — 可以堅強，也可以脆弱；有強悍的時候，也有溫柔的時候。
Imperfect action trumps visualized perfection all day long.
專注於「完成」而非「完美」
“Premature optimization is the root of all evil.” — Donald Knuth 1
Done is better than perfect. — First make it work. Then optimize (pretty, efficient, documented). Don’t over-engineer. Never start to scale/optimize things too early. Use feedback for fast iterations. It’s okay to be wrong.
See also:
Footnotes
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The hallmark of premature optimization is adding complexity for the sake of efficiency, without having determined that the benefit is substantial enough to justify the cost (of both implementation and maintenance). ↩