How To Be Creative: 5 Ways to Give Up Perfectionism

There's no one who creates who hasn't been struck at some point by the deadly effects of perfectionism. Trying to get every last detail of a creative project "just right" before you can say it's finished can add days, months, even years to its duration. Sometimes we're so dominated by this kind of perfectionism, we never finish any projects at all.

Even worse, sometimes we're so afraid of not getting something right - or we don't believe we can - that we don't even start anything creative. So our creativity just decays and writhes inside, and we punish ourselves daily, not only by not creating, but also by blaming ourselves for not creating. Not a pretty situation from any angle.

So how can we give up these destructive traits of perfectionism and create with a new freedom and sense of adventure? Here's a 5-step plan to get you started:

1. Admit that perfectionism is limiting your creativity. You can't begin to overcome perfectionism until you admit it's affecting you. How often do you find it takes a day to complete 90% of a creative project, then another 7 days or more to finish the last 10%? How often do you put off starting a new project because you don't quite have the right materials, or you don't quite feel in the right mood, or the weather isn't perfect? All signs that perfectionism is severely restricting your creativity. It's OK to admit it--it's the first step forward.
2. Accept there is not a single "right way" to create. If you were in a profession such as an aircraft safety testing engineer or a brain surgeon, then being perfect and performing in a very precise way would be essential to people's safety and lives. You're an artist though--you have no such limitations. Creating is all about experimentation, trying new stuff, bringing new ideas into the world that weren't there before. If there were only one perfect way of doing this, then every record, painting, sculpture and building would be exactly identical!
3. Focus on enjoyment, not end product. When we focus only on creating a perfect end product, there's no way we can enjoy the creative adventure and experience along the way. You can be walking through the most beautiful gardens, bursting with colourful blossoms, but if your eyes are fixed firmly on the distant horizon, you're not going see or appreciate a single petal. Enjoy your creativity in every aspect as you go--it's some of the most precious time you'll ever spend in your life.
4. Embrace the concept of the happy accident. One of the most exciting and rewarding experiences in creating is the "happy accident." This is when we're trying to achieve a certain effect and experimenting around it, then we discover something different that turns out to be far more interesting even than what we originally intended. This can only happen when we create openly and freely, without being chained in by making every step perfect. Knowing this, and experiencing these happy accidents yourself, helps break the grip of perfectionism.
5. Live by your own standards. If you're always comparing yourself unfavourably to others and, for example, dismissing your first painting because it's not as good as one by Van Gogh or whoever your artistic hero may be, it's a recipe for creative self sabotage. We are each unique in who we are, what we create and how we create. Defining "perfect" as exactly like the art of your role models completely eliminates your ability to find your own creative voice and express yourself. Listen to yourself and follow your own creative urges and desires.

Use these 5 steps to start to overcome the perfectionist tendencies that have been keeping your creativity chained down.