Getting Started – When Expectations of Perfection Create a Creative Block

Do expectations of making something to your own standards of perfection ever create a creative block that stops you from getting started?

That was the case a dear friend described as she struggled getting started creating a very special book of reflections about her husband. She could see the book perfectly in her mind. But her apprehensions about the potential disconnect between the perfect book of reflections she saw in her mind and her expectations of how the final product would fall short created a huge creative block to getting started.

The thing is the book of reflections will be a truly incredible gift - no matter what it ultimately looks like.

Creative Block vs. Getting Started Block

When you have expectations of perfectionism on a high stakes creative effort, it’s possible for an apparently huge creative block to form. My contention though is it is less about a creative block than a getting started block.

Thinking about the situation that evening, I created this list of eight questions that might be helpful for her or you when facing a similar situation and expectations of perfection prevent getting started.

Honestly answer these eight questions about your creative situation:

1. How many people (other than you) will notice if it’s not perfect?  ___
2. How many people (other than you) will care if it’s not perfect?  ___
3. How many people will change their opinion of you if it’s not perfect?  ___
4. How many truly great future opportunities will you lose if it’s not perfect?  ___
5. How many significant problems will you create for yourself or others if it’s not perfect?  ___
6. Have people who might help you to do the best you can refused to help you?  Yes | No
7. Is anything stopping your from practicing ahead of time to help you do better?  Yes | No
8. Will something prevent you from starting over or adjusting if it’s not as good as you’d like?  Yes | No

Add the numerical answers to the first five questions with the number of “Yes” answers to the last three questions.

Getting Around Your Getting Started Block

In some cases, the number may be large – if you’re Beyoncé and supposed to sing the National Anthem live at the presidential inauguration. In most cases, however, the total number is probably very small. In my friend’s case, I’d contend the number was “zero” for all eight questions combined.

If you find the number seems too large, your answers can show where to adjust your creative situation to minimize the getting started block.

With my friend, I was helping her create cartoons for the book (question 6), she developed her own handwriting font to allow her to format and adjust the book’s written sections on the computer (question 7), and she found a book style that allowed pages to be removed and added (question 8).

In a follow-up phone call, she was still hesitating. I asked her how many pages were in the book compared to how many pages she needed (a version of question 5). Her answers revealed she had 50% more pages than she needed for her completed book. Think about that - even with all the concerns, she could still have a 50% “failure” rate and be okay!

It’s far easier to see how someone else should just be getting started than it is when we’re the one facing an apparent creative block. Ideally, these questions (which I readily admit AREN’T perfect) can help you in getting started next time you’re the only one stopping you from getting started with your first creative step.  - Mike Brown

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