Monday, April 8, 2013

Done is Better Than Perfect.

I am a huge fan of Sheryl Sandberg.  This is putting it lightly.  Obsessed might be a better way to describe the huge fan-girl crush that I have on her.  I really love her new book, Lean In, and have read it several times already.  I regularly re-watch her TEDTalk, Barnard Commencement talk, and her Levo League Office Hours video.  I find her inspiring on both macro and micro levels. 

One thing that she talks about is her ethos of "done is better than perfect."  To be honest, I fundamentally struggle with this.  I am a perfectionist.  I love doing things well.  I love the pursuit of perfection, and seeing what I can accomplish.  However, like most people, I have a lot to do each day.  I have a lot I want to accomplish.  And I love being incredibly prolific.  I have struggled with this dichotomy for a couple of years.  I have pinpointed that my perfectionism is one of the key stumbling blocks in my progress.  I have known this for quite some time.  Sheryl Sandberg talks a lot about "done is better than perfect."  I am afraid of this.  I am afraid that this lets my standard of "good" lower.  I don't want that to  happen.  I like doing things really, really well. 

One of her best examples of this is answering emails.  She talks about answering email immediately, instead of waiting, composing a perfect 3 paragraph email, and then realizing that 3 weeks have gone by.  I felt like she was describing me.  I am so guilty of this!  

I am challenging myself to adapt this ethos into my life, day by day.  I need to find a way to reconcile perfection with prolific.  Blogging is something that I miss so much, and so I have decided that this is the arena in which I will just begin.