You stop being a perfectionist by creating the thing, shipping it and letting the world respond. I call it Imperfect On Purpose. Love creating imperfect work, build imperfection into your process, and keep your eyes on the larger vision of what you want to create. Perfection is the enemy of greatness, so ship the work.
- Perfection is the enemy of greatness.
- Imperfect On Purpose means you choose imperfection and build it into your process.
- Create it and ship it. The world may love the piece you were judging.
- Zoom out from one piece of work to the vision you are creating.
What is Imperfect On Purpose?
Imperfect On Purpose is my name for choosing imperfection as part of how you create. You love creating imperfect work so much that you build it into your process, then you highlight it and amplify it.
The idea came from a night watching The Playlist, the Netflix show about the creation of Spotify. One scene covered the systems architecture and how the coders created something that was imperfect on purpose. I already taught people to love creating imperfect content, and I saw this as the next level of it. Doing it on purpose opens up a new level of freedom.
Perfection is the enemy of greatness.
Why does perfectionism hold you back?
Perfectionism keeps your attention on the micro: this one piece of content, this one story you are telling yourself. I know the feeling well, and I have it every single day.
The day before I recorded that episode, I posted a short video across all of my platforms. I liked the overall concept, and I thought the hook in the first 15 seconds was slower than I wanted. A judgment popped into my mind right away: this is already created, it falls short of good enough, so you shouldn't post it. Those thoughts kept running even after I published it.
The world had a different idea. I woke up the next morning to likes and comments, and YouTube showed 683 views on that 60 second video in its first 16 hours. The piece I was judging was a piece people really liked. I share more on this in how to stop overthinking content.
This thing that you and I think is holding us back and slowing us down is actually the way to making things better.
Rob Cressy
How do you stop being a perfectionist step by step?
- Create it and ship it. I would much rather you put something out in the world than sit with it on your phone, going over it again and again.
- Expect the judgment. The voice saying "I could have done so much better" still shows up for me. Hear it, and post anyway.
- Accept it ahead of time. Some of what you make will be less than perfect. Decide today that you are okay with that.
- Build imperfection into your process. I had just recorded four podcasts, and my team was going to cut them into 60 second clips. I stuttered over my words at times, I knew it would be in the clips, and I was okay with it.
- Highlight it and amplify it. I turned my own stumbles into a whole episode about being imperfect on purpose.
What should you focus on when your work feels imperfect?
Think about the larger picture: the vision of what you want to create in your life, the emotions you want to feel every single day, and the things you want to make. That matters more than any single post. Spotify's coders built imperfect on purpose because it made the platform better.
My foundational process for creating keeps me there. It has three parts, and it starts with a vision you can see.
| Part | The question to ask |
|---|---|
| Vision | What do you want to accomplish? Close your eyes, dream, and think about where you want to go. |
| Being | Who do you need to be every single day to be the person who accomplishes that vision? |
| Action | What do you get to do to accomplish that vision, be that person and show up every single day? |
When you know where you are going, how you are showing up and the action to take, one imperfect piece becomes a small step inside a much bigger creation.
Does Imperfect On Purpose work beyond content?
Yes. It applies to your personal growth, your mindset and your self-talk. It is okay to be imperfect in who you are being, the same way a video can go out with a slow hook. If the judging voice is loud for you, start with how to stop negative self talk. Give yourself this gift and it becomes a blessing in your life.
Do this today
- Ship one thing. Find something you created and have been holding back, and share it with the world as it is.
- Name the bigger picture. Write one line on the vision this work serves, and read it the next time you judge a single piece.
Listen to the episode
Imperfect On Purpose
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Read the full transcript
Imperfect On Purpose. This is a concept that is a gift that I would love for you to be able to give to yourself. So last night I'm watching the show on Netflix, The Playlist, which is about the creation of Spotify. And at some point during it, they're talking about the systems architecture and how the coders created something that is imperfect on purpose.
And I absolutely love this concept because one of the things that I teach in terms of creating is loving creating imperfect content. And I see this as the next level of it. Because not only do you love creating imperfect content, but you are doing this on purpose. Talk about a new level of freedom that can get accessed by you.
And I think about the last 24 hours and how I've lived this. And yesterday I posted a piece of short form content that I'm distributing across all of my platforms. And in it, I watched the video and I really liked the overall concept. But I thought it took a little bit long for me to get to the meat of it. So maybe the first 15 seconds, the hook just was a little bit slower than I would have liked. Yeah, there's some personality stuff in there in terms of my journey, but I just didn't think that it was as good as it could have been.
And immediately a judgment popped into my mind that said, you know what? This content's already been created, but it's not good enough. So you shouldn't post it. Even after I published it, these are the thoughts that are going on in my head being like, man, I could have done so much better on this. But you know what? I posted it with the world. I understand that not everything that I'm going to do is going to be perfect. And I am okay with that.
But guess what? The world had a different idea for me. So I wake up this morning and right away, boom, there's likes and comments on social media on that post. And I'm like, whoa, this resonated with some people. Then I jump on YouTube and I look in the first 16 hours, 683 views of that 60 second piece of content. Wow. Talk about the universe teaching me a lesson. Here's this piece of imperfect content that I'm judging myself on, but the world is saying, you know what, Rob? We really liked that piece of content.
And then I'll take this even a step further. Today, I'm creating this podcast. And about an hour ago, I recorded a series of four podcasts. And I know that my team is going to be chopping these up into small 60 second vignettes that you're going to see on LinkedIn and YouTube shorts and Instagram reels and TikToks. And guess what? At times, I'm stuttering over my words where I've got a point that I'm going to say and somehow it just doesn't come out as eloquent as I would like. And I know this is going to be in the micro content, but guess what? I'm okay with it because I love creating imperfect content.
So much so that I am highlighting this right this second for you in creating a new creation about creating content that is imperfect on purpose. And why am I sharing this? So that you can know that it is okay to be imperfect and the next level of this is to be imperfect on purpose. Because when you do, this unlocks a whole new level of creating for you.
And this isn't just about content. This can be about your personal growth and your mindset and your self-talk and your being. That it's okay to not be perfect. Because we all know perfection is the enemy of greatness. And I would much rather you create something and ship it in the world than sit there over and over again with something on your phone or you're judging something about yourself the same way that I did.
I want to let you know I have these same feelings every single day. It happened yesterday. It happened an hour ago. But guess what? When you can love imperfection so much so that it can be built into your process and you're going to highlight it and amplify it, man, it is absolutely beautiful.
Because so often we live on the micro. Oh, this one piece of content, this one story that I'm telling myself. But guess what? I want you to think about the larger picture, the vision of what it is that you want to create in your life, the emotions that you want to feel every single day, the things that you want to create. That is what is more important.
Just like in the architecture of Spotify, the reason they were creating imperfect on purpose is because it was making the platform better. Wait a second. This thing that you and I think is holding us back and slowing us down is actually the way to making things better. And when you understand this and you give yourself this gift, oh baby, it is an absolute blessing in your life.
Transcript cleaned up for reading.