THE "PERFECT" DISEASE

I’m pretty sure by now that if you’ve read or followed anything on this blog you can see that I’m a workaholic. I write everyday. I post at least 4 articles a week. I’m always pumping out content. Now is it possible that I could wear out my presence? Yes. Do I care? No. If the product I give you is good it wouldn’t matter if I gave you 50 articles in a week. 

There are plenty reasons why I write as much as I do. 

I write to stay sharp. 

I write because I made a commitment to consistency. 

I write to help people. 

All good reasons. 

But one of the key reasons why I write as much as I do is that I’m fighting a disease. A mental disease that has been getting on my fucking nerves for as long as I can remember. 

Perfectionism. 

The refusal to accept any standard less than perfection. 

For however long I’ve been creating shit, the one running gag that I’ve always said about myself is that I’m a perfectionist. I was really good at drawing when I was a child and I always took long on all my art assignments because every drawing had to be just right. They had to be perfect. Anything else just wouldn’t do. 

For majority of my life I wanted perfection in everything I cared for. I wanted my nights out to be perfect. I wanted my relationships to be perfect. My vacations to be perfect. All my creative projects to be perfect. The creative side is where it’s the most difficult. 

When I did music I was a nightmare in the studio. Nothing ever felt right to me. No matter how perfect it sounded to others. If you told me you liked a song I’d give you a list of what’s wrong with it before I tell you thank you. 

When I started this blog I had so many articles I released late or not at all because they weren’t perfect. 

Perfectionism, Perfection, Perfectionist is all ……… bullshit. 

I’ve realized it’s bullshit. It’s just a fancy fucking excuse. That’s all it is. 

When you ask that creative person why haven’t they created anything in a while and they tell you that they’re a perfectionist. Just know it’s bullshit. They’re either not fucking working or they’re afraid of what people think and of possible failure in front of people. “I’m a perfectionist” is literally code for “I’m not doing shit” or they’re afraid of something. I know because I used to say that shit knowing damn well I haven’t done shit or I was afraid to share anything. Saying you’re a perfectionist and implying you’re doing it the right way is simply an excuse. 

The pursuit of perfection is an illusion. It’s like that dream Bruh Man had on “Martin” where he opened up a fridge full of sammiches but every time he reached for the sammiches they moved away from him. The pursuit of perfection hurts more than it helps. When you’re trying to chase perfection it’s like you’re chasing a ghost. It’s pointless. 

There’s a trade off for chasing perfection. You give up something very valuable to achieve something you won’t achieve or realize it wasn’t what you thought it would be. Like a perfect G.P.A. You spent all your time to get straight A’s then realized when you got into the real world that nobody gives a fuck about your grades. It’s about who you know and getting into the right spaces. 

I’ve seen people try to get the perfect body and fuck with their health to get it. You see it all over Instagram. People are slowly fucking themselves up just for appearance. There’s this blueprint of what women think the perfect body is. That’s why they all look the same and they’re taking that image to the surgeons and saying “Make me like this” and just like we’ve seen in the past after they get that surgery and realize it’s not perfect and realize it’s not enough they go back for more and more. The chase continues. The disease of perfection eats them alive and some wished they never did it. 

It’s a disease that I had and I just don’t give a fuck about perfection in my writing anymore. Nothing matters but me executing and getting shit done. Doesn’t mean there isn’t a process but the process isn’t held up on this illusion of perfection. I’ve learned how to take being timely and harmonizing it with speed. For example, I’m currently writing a TV pilot. That shit takes time to write. Writing a blog post on average takes me a hour. I’m fast with blog entries and I have patience when I’m writing a script. You gotta know what to be patient with and what to do quickly. You want to be efficient not perfect. The people who are efficient are winners. The ones chasing perfection are the bullshitters. They don’t get shit done. 

Trust me, you rather get your vision out there to be criticized, humiliated, and ridiculed than to have it still in your brilliant mind or in a notebook waiting on the perfect moment or creating the perfect plan. A imperfect creation can be corrected. You can change shit on the go. At least that imperfect idea is now alive. It’s a step forward versus not doing anything at all because you’re waiting on perfection. Basically you’re wasting time. You can never improve if you never put anything out there. You have to get your reps. 

Perfection is procrastination. Perfection and procrastination is like the Wolf in Sheep’s clothing analogy. Perfection being the wool. Procrastination as the wolf. Don’t be fooled. 

The perfectionism disease doesn’t only affect you but the people who are fans of whatever you do. Let’s say you do create something perfect. Your fans will not accept anything less than that afterwards. They leave you no room for error or mistakes meaning they’ve stripped your ability to be human. Anything “Good” you create will be considered wack because “Good” isn’t “Perfect.” You’re judged differently. Ask Tiger Woods. 

Tiger Woods was marketed to me as a kid as the perfect role model. He didn’t cuss. He didn’t make mistakes. He said all the right things. He had the perfect family. He made one mistake with his wife and the media turned on him. The world turned on him and he was never the same. All the world knew was “Perfect” Tiger Woods. They didn't give the flawed Tiger Woods a chance because perfection makes you look at flaws with disgust. They refused to accept his flaws. He was never the same because instead of being human and saying “I love fucking other bitches” he tried to chase perfection again and repair his image. He wanted the perfect image again.

The reason Tiger's game suffered ever since that incident with his wife is because he wasn’t being true to himself. Perfection takes “you” from “YOU!” He focused more on his shattered perfect image than his golfing skills. If he would’ve just said “Yeah I fucked all these women while I was married and I just love fucking” his game would’ve never suffered. I truly believe that shit. Sounds twisted but if you love fucking pornstars and escorts then do that shit. Don’t hide it. 

Kobe Bryant did the opposite of Tiger Woods. When it was found out Kobe cheats on his wife during his rape case. He said "Fuck it" after it was done and embraced the villain role. He became unlikeable to the media and public and he didn't give a fuck. He realized his perfect squeaky clean image was bullshit and that he was imperfect. He said fuck being perfect and started being himself and he won 2 more championships. 

Another thing that really upsets me when I think about perfection is that you tend to create problems that never existed because you’re trying to create something perfect. You start overthinking and start fucking up your productivity. Now due to chasing the impossible you’ve second guessed yourself and further delayed progress. 

Perfection holds you back from being great and learning. Why would you want perfection anyway? It has no meaning. Instead of trying to put the perfect plan together before you start whatever you’re doing just do each part of the plan that comes to your mind right then and there and stop the disease of perfection before it spreads. 

Perfection is Imperfection. In imperfection I know I’m getting something that’s authentically you. In perfection I’m either getting your fear or you copying whatever you feel is perfect . I want what YOU have to offer. That’s good enough in my opinion and good enough will get you farther than “perfect" anytime.