As a perfectionist, I eat, sleep, and breathe this question. Since I started actually writing the books I’ve been dreaming about and working toward publishing, this question’s popped up more times than I’d like.
I’m a believer in trusting your gut. My intuition’s been built from a lifetime of experiences, and it would be ignorant to disregard the patterns I’ve come to subconsciously notice. But there’s another side to this, too. Sometimes, our intuition is tainted by fear. Sometimes, that nagging voice asking “What if it’s not good enough?” is just that: fear. The fear of being less than perfect, of being seen and judged and misunderstood.
That fear will always be present when putting yourself out there. It’s the punchline of being a perfectionist. It’s the constant state of never knowing when to keep perfecting and when to take the leap. But after years of “not good enough” flashing across my brain like a neon sign, I’ve come to discover something.
There’s a moment where your gut knows it’s time to leap. It’s subtle, but it’s there. It’s the moment “it’s not good enough” becomes the question: “What if it’s not good enough?”
“It’s not good enough” is your intuition telling you there’s work to be done. Work you are more than capable of doing. Work that needs to happen to create something you’re proud of.
“What if it’s not good enough?” is your fear’s last-ditch effort to keep you small. It’s the question that keeps you running toward the imaginary finish line of perfection. The belief that nothing you create is worth seeing unless it’s absolutely perfect.
Creative work doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to communicate what you want to say. It just has to be good enough.
Your gut will know. “It’s not good enough.” A switch will flip, and suddenly you’ll be asking, “What if it’s not good enough.” That, my friends, is your signal to leap.
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