The philosopher Voltaire was the first to note, perfect is the enemy of good, actually he wrote, “the best is the enemy of the good.” What? How could perfect be the enemy of good? Isn’t perfect supposed to be good? Over the years, the general consensus has come to interpret that waiting for that perfect time, holding off revealing your work until it’s perfect, delaying doing something because you’re not perfect at it yet, actually causes inaction, thus preventing progress.
One example of how this quote has effected my life, I’m trying to learn German, but my sentences are choppy, the words come out wrong and I get embarrassed. This inhibits me from practicing, and ultimately from ever learning the language. Because I don’t speak German perfectly, I don’t speak it at all. Being married to a German who speaks perfect English, this comes up more often than you’d think, since we frequently spend time in Germany.
When it comes to blogging, it’s easy to get paralyzed with the idea of perfection. There are blogs with beautiful photography, witty text, clever niches and it gets intimidating to figure out where each of us fits in the whole landscape. You may be starting your blog, but not sharing it because you don’t think it’s “there yet” or not taking photos because your photography skills aren’t so great at this time.
Practice makes (almost) perfect
But guess what? Not practicing is the fastest way to not getting better. We all start out taking crappy photos, writing wonky sentences, but practice, practice practice — and learning new ways to improve — will ultimately help us learn how to be better bloggers. Most of the best bloggers today have put in their time practicing. Some bloggers have been online for over a decade honing in their online voice, others have been refining their skills offline as well, some even spend hours on end daily to build up their abilities. Ultimately, we all have a lot of learning to do, as none of us are perfect.
At the end of the day, don’t let your quest for perfection stop you from trying. It may be true that we’re not good right now (like my German) but as long as we don’t practice, becoming great will never happen. And that is why “perfect is the enemy of good” when it comes to your blog.
Perfectionist Image from Shutterstock.com
all of this is so so so true!! thanks
good luck with the german!
http://lazyobsession.blogspot.com