THE PERILS OF PERFECTIONISM
My daddy loved to say, “You can’t steer a ship that isn’t moving.” I have a personal philosophy that you should launch your ships (or your projects) when they are 80% ready. The remaining 20% can only be tweaked when they are in movement. I didn’t pull that directly from the Proverbs, but I think it is helpful.
If you don’t follow this philosophy you will get trapped in the perilous seas of perfectionism. The amount of effort it takes to get from 0% to 80% ready is the same amount of effort it will take you to get from 80% to 100%. The return you will get for this small percentage is just not worth the effort it will take.
This is my advice: Have a plan, do some preparation, think it through, write it out, and then launch. Correct as you go. I love to say, “No one waits for all the lights to turn green before they leave the driveway.” That’s exactly what I’m doing with this website. It going to get better and better but it is already launched and doing a lot of good in the meantime. If you have suggestions I would love to hear them. I’m certain I’m planning on doing a lot of the things you think would make it better. It takes time. Send your ideas to me. But be patient. If I did them first you might not be reading this for several more years.
Whether you are a salesperson or a minister the time it would take you to get 100% prepared to call one person, you could have already called ten people being only 80% ready. One thing I do know with absolute certainty is that the ability to connect to people with kindness and focused attention is far more important than perfecting your technique, your verbiage, and sometimes even your information.
Just do it. Do it afraid. It is better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing at all, as long as you are learning and tweaking as you go. I not saying to be content with something that is half-baked! Perfecting as you go is a totally different animal than perfecting before you begin.
In addition, always remember that generally overly prepared people rarely depend on the Holy Spirit.
