Overcoming Better

Overcoming Better

We are recording two podcast episodes today. And inevitably something will go wrong. Someone won’t show up. Or the audio will be sketchy. Maybe I will forget what I want to ask, or the conversation won’t proceed just so. The list of possible imperfections is endless. I should be used to this. Certainly there is little about being a human being that goes exactly as planned. Thus, there is a continuous push towards better. We talk about the aggregation of incremental gains. But maybe perfect is the enemy of good. In this post financial independence life where I am trying act on joy instead of money, overcoming better is very difficult.

It’s simply too hard to except that sometimes better is not always, well…better. Sometimes the pain incurred by improvement saps the reason for doing in the first place.

Creation

There is a beauty in creation. Writing a blog, cohosting a podcast. Where once there was nothing, there is now something. The act of creating, and the product formed, are 9/10 of the marathon. Yet it is the last 1/10 that I am talking about here.

Taking that product to the next level is difficult, and requires drive and passion. Drive and passion are generally not thought of as negative things. They are the steam that drives many an engine.

Yet, they can also be counterproductive. Those nauseating imperfections may grate on my consciousness, but probably don’t affect the overall quality of what is produced. Not much at least.

Overcoming better means turning off the inner critic.

Steep Curve

It’s a steep curve. To traverse the last 1/10, and remake something that is good enough into something that is better, may be costly. It may take hours of editing, rewriting, or re recording. It may require that the whole project is trashed and started all over again.

And there is no guarantee that the edit or the redo will even be better. In fact, your discerning ear may not be in agreement with everyone else’s. They might see you perceived flaw as charming. They may think the glitch in conversation makes the recording more relatable.

Overcoming better may save all sorts of time and stop one from over thinking.

Perfect Is The Enemy

I’ve spouted this cliche a few times on the blog, but it doesn’t ring any less true. So many projects were trashed or never even started because of an expectation of perfect. Overcoming perfect also means overcoming better.

There is a point where art has to speak for itself. Where creation is finished. A so called final product is formed.

Think about how many new projects are put off or canceled altogether because one is obsessed with finishing the previous. The worst kind of failure is the attempt that is never even made.

Final Thoughts

I am not saying that we shouldn’t strive for better. But we should be choosey. There are times when it matters, and times when it doesn’t. Financial independence gives us the luxury of having the choice..

I am trying to overcome better. To accept my creations for what they are. Balanced at times and awkward at others. Brilliant or downright dopey. New and original or just another example of something that has already been done.

I’m tired of revising.