- I have a confession to make.
I'm a perfectionist.
I know, I know, you probably would've never guessed it.
The borderline obsessive compulsive minimalist that tried
on 25 different t-shirts
until he found the best fit is a perfectionist?
Color me surprised.
But here's the thing.
I don't see my perfectionism as a weakness.
Today, when people talk about perfectionism
it's almost exclusively used in the pejorative sense.
It's something that you need to overcome
in order to create your best work or ideal life.
But if you've ever been called a perfectionist
it might actually be a good thing.
In fact, that's often where our genius comes from.
You just have to be careful
because it can also hold you back in the worst way possible.
This video is sponsored by Squarespace.
I'll talk more about them later.
Being a perfectionist has helped me throughout my life.
It's one of the reasons why I was able to
build a successful freelance business,
why my YouTube channel took off
and how I've created a life where I'm fulfilled
but also constantly challenged.
But if I'm being honest, it wasn't always like this.
There was definitely a much younger
and inexperienced Matt that let perfectionism get the best
of him resulting in projects that failed to launch
or never got off the ground.
So I wanna talk
about how we can harness our perfectionist tendencies
for good, but first it's important to understand why
we often get it so wrong.
So when it comes to perfectionism, a 20017 study revealed
that there are actually two different types, you might
either be an adaptive perfectionist
or a maladaptive perfectionist.
Adaptive perfectionism is the healthy
or useful type.
People who fall into this category
derive satisfaction from achievements made
from intense effort and tolerate imperfections.
But as we know, there's also a dark side to perfectionism.
If you find yourself in a constant state of self-criticism
and self sabotage, your likely a maladaptive perfectionist.
And that's gonna seriously hold you back.
For many of us that harsh inner critic is
at the wheel of our perfectionism.
It's the voice that tells us
that if we're not able to do something perfectly
then we may as well not attempt it at all.
Simply put we use perfectionism often as an excuse.
I'll start my business when the timing is just right.
I'll only date someone
if they're a perfect match.
I'll publish my first book
when every last detail lines up.
We often hesitate to start something new
because we're actually afraid.
We're afraid of failing, saying something awkward,
looking like a complete idiot or all three at the same time.
But this tendency to wait for of perfectionism holds us back
from growth and it robs us of opportunity.
Enter the story of the Thief and the Cobbler.
This animated film holds Guinness World Record
for the longest production time of any film,
stretching from 1964 to 1993,
it took over 29 years to complete.
Behind the scenes was a talented yet painfully
perfectionist animator by the name of Richard Williams,
most famous for his work on Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
The Thief and the Cobbler was set to
be his magnum opus using complex animation techniques.
It told the story of a lonely Arabian princess
and a poor cobbler who fall in love
while trying to retrieve magical orbs.
Sound familiar?
- Are you looking at me?
- In the late '80s,
Williams finally got funding from Warner Bros
to bring his vision to life, but there was a problem.
Williams was so fixated
on getting every intricate animation detail right
that it sent him spiraling
into a never ending loop of perfectionism.
- And I'm gonna do a masterpiece.
I hope, if I can ever finish the thing.
- His ambitions for flawlessness drove the project well
over timeline and budget
and Warner Bros were forced to dump the film.
The film was eventually taken over by another studio
in 1993 and a cobbled together version was finally released
with lackluster reviews and poor box office performance.
It might have been because a very similar film
was released one year earlier by Disney.
Yes, it was Aladdin.
Not only did it have a nearly identical storyline,
characters and setting, but it was also animated
by some of Williams' former employees.
Ouch.
Now in a way, The Thief and the Cobbler is a cult classic
with an iconic legacy of its own
but its also a precautionary tale
of the danger of letting perfectionism hold you back.
Now, if you're someone who constantly strives for perfection
it can be difficult to know where to draw the line.
If I'm not aiming for perfection
then what the hell am I working towards?
Well, there are four principles that have helped me
out the most with everything
from my creative work to my dating life.
But before I share those lessons on how you can
turn perfectionism into a strength,
a quick word about Squarespace.
They're my sponsor for this week's video.
Let's say that you finally win your battle
with perfectionism and decide to start a blog
about you and your cat.
So you go to Squarespace and fittingly, grab the domain
impurrfect.com.
Wait, what? It's taken?
What the (beep) you worked so hard.
You come up with a real, really good idea and no it's okay.
You were gonna get .com, but somebody already took it
and that's okay because we're fine with impurrfect.net.
Next, you choose a template that fits the vibe of your blog.
Something like this.
After that, you can add photos, drop in your logo
and muster up the courage to make your first post.
All with just a few clicks.
With Squarepace, you can scale your business
with detailed analytics, scheduled posts,
and e-commerce stores.
It's never been easier to build a website to
show the world how imperfectly happy you and your cat are.
Visit squarespace.com today for a free trial.
And when you're ready to launch,
go to squarespace.com/mattdavella to save 10%
off your first purchase of a website
or domain.
When you support Squarespace
by using the link in the description below
you're also supporting this channel.
So thank you for considering.
I truly believe
that there is something special inside every perfectionist.
They have this relentless drive to be great at what they do.
And I think all the best artists, athletes
and entrepreneurs have it.
But as we've seen, just because you're a perfectionist
doesn't necessarily mean that you're destined for success.
So how do you turn perfectionism into a strength?
One thing that's helped me is to create realistic goals.
If you haven't identified what done looks like
you'll never know when to stop
and you don't have to over-complicate things either.
It could be as simple as figuring
out how to make your project or endeavor complete.
If you wanna run a marathon, instead
of coming up with an ambitious time based goal
of running it in four hours
you could just create a goal to finish the marathon.
If you wanna start meditating, instead of committing
to doing it every day for a hundred days straight
you could set the goal
of meditating three days a week for a month.
If you wanna write a book, instead
of trying to write all 75,000 words in a month
you could set out to write 2000 words a day
until you've written a book.
Rather than endlessly pursuing
an elusive standard of perfection.
What if you actually focused on making the project complete?
Try to get to a place where all the elements are there
and nothing crucial is missing.
Since these goals are far more realistic
you'll be more likely to actually stick to them.
As the expression goes, done is better
than perfect because perfect is never done.
Aim for effort, shooting for perfection sets us up
for failure because it's outside of our control.
We can't control how skilled our competition is,
what obstacles are going to arise
or how other people perceive our work.
But what we can control is how much effort we put in.
As my mom used to tell me, growing up, just try your best.
That's all you can do.
Now that's wholesome as (beep).
So if you're starting to put yourself
out into the dating world
try to focus on the effort you put in
not the outcome because you will get rejected a lot.
You will go on dates that totally flop
and you'll get flaked and ghosted over and over again.
I should know, but you should be proud of yourself
for taking those uncomfortable steps into uncertainty.
And when you aim for effort
you'll start to see improvements.
Imagine what would happen as author James Clear suggests
if we made a continuous improvement of 1% every day,
whether it's getting better
at writing or lifting weights in the gym,
making minimal improvements each day feels less overwhelming
than trying to become a master overnight.
But if you commit to improving by just 1% every day
for a year, you'd be 37% better by the end of it.
And that's a radical change.
Stop at 90%.
Letting go of perfectionism doesn't mean settling
for second rate or sloppy work.
It's possible to still have high standards for yourself
but there has to come a time when enough is enough.
Consider the law of diminishing returns.
This economic principle refers
to the point in any production process that once
reached will start to decrease output.
For example, a worker may produce 100 units
per hour for 40 hours, but in the 41st hour
the output drops to 90 units.
After this additional effort is rarely worth the cost
and it's more beneficial to wrap things up.
A far more realistic and sustainable approach
is to strive for good enough.
That sweet spot between perfect and passable.
For me, this means stopping once I've gotten the project 90%
of the way there.
When it comes to the videos that I make on YouTube.
I know that most people won't even notice that final 10%.
These are the tweaks
and changes that might marginally improve a project
but won't make a difference in the outcome or success of it.
When I allow myself to let that 10% go
it means I accept the fact
that I can't control every single last detail.
Every transition won't be perfect.
I might forget to color grade a clip, but that's okay
if it helps me move the project forward.
If you follow this strategy
you can still put things out into the world
that you're proud of without paralyzing yourself
in the pursuit of perfection.
Set ambitious deadlines.
It's funny that something as simple
as setting an arbitrary deadline can make such
a radical difference in what you're able to accomplish.
The reason is be because without a deadline
a perfectionist will never stop.
Whether they're masking their fear of failure
by obsessing over every last detail or procrastinating
getting started in the first place
a proper deadline creates a clear finish line.
You can now start to work backwards to
determine the small steps you need to take
to finish this project on time.
And when you create an ambitious deadline
something really funny happens.
You start to quickly realize what is essential
for the project and what you've been wasting your time on.
You just have to be careful
that you don't run into a constant state
of burnout because you're too hard on yourself.
Humans are really bad
at determining how long things will take.
So do your best to reach your deadline.
But if you have to push it a little bit further
that's okay as well.
By the way, if you're a freelancer working with clients
then here's the biggest lesson that I've learned
about setting deadlines.
Tell your client, it will take twice as long as you think
it'll actually take.
By setting two deadlines,
one for yourself and one for your client,
you'll never be late with a project again.
And you'll often deliver a project way earlier
surpassing your client's expectations
and earning a client for life.
If I could leave you with one thing, it'd be this.
No matter what you're working on
whether it's a YouTube video or a relationship
it's okay to push yourself to be great.
But at the end of the day, you need to
understand that perfection doesn't actually exist.
There's no universal authority
on what makes something perfect.
And each of us
has our own different standards that are shaped
by our experiences, perspectives and beliefs.
While one person might think is the holy grail.
The next person will think is complete trash.
So go ahead and obsess about your work
while you're working and strive to be exceptional
with the limited time that you've got.
But once you've made it 90% of the way there
know when it's time to say good enough.
(upbeat music)