Don’t hesitate to create garbage!

How oddly satisfying it is to watch a couple performing tango perfectly matching the Orquesta-tipica beats, isn’t it? Or watching the competitors make the perfect loops in the diving event of the summer Olympics? Or simply reading through a perfectly documented report or a book, that makes us take a special note and appreciation? Indeed. These activities mark themselves as meaningful and something to strive for.

But at the same time, it happens to strike a chord inside us that says, “That’s the perfection one should achieve…”. Sure enough, why not? But there’s also a part of us that is so overwhelmed that declares, “This level of perfection is reserved for few and not me…”. Now, looking at the ground truth, there is indeed this vast difference between the abilities we possess versus these maestros. But did they pull off the same level of excellence the first time when you saw them doing on the grand stage?

Did that Tango couple never get tangled or horribly missed their synchronization? Or the diver never fell flat on his chest in the water? Did the author of the book come up with the perfect draft in the first go? The questions answer for themselves.

We seem to forget, when the children are on their journey becoming teens, learn a lot by trial and error. Have you seen a child deciding to walk perfectly within 3 attempts or quitting the whole idea of walking ever again!? Or even importantly, have you seen some baby learning to walk within 3 attempts? Go ahead and write a research paper if you have! The funniest part? They don’t even try to improve consciously (definitely not as much as us adults), forget perfection!

But they do one thing that we adults don’t. They act. In the process of acting, again and again, their control over the activity increases, infinitesimally. The babies don’t measure their tries! They do it UNTIL.

Now, one cannot neglect the fact, that the world doesn’t judge a kid over their walking trials as much as it does for an adult for an activity. And maybe for a good reason. The world works on the shoulders of the responsible, and there is little room for error. An adult won’t be getting infinite shots at doing anything.

But then adults also have an antidote for it. They can analyse circumstances and their actions much better than kids! This means we adults can reduce the error from the last try to the next try at a much higher rate. But then do we try enough times? We stop in a few, even though we probably would have got a lot better by the 3rd attempt we try it. Perhaps, the overdose of the same boon of analysis leads to seeking ‘dreamland’, aka ‘perfection’.

This lethal overdose of analysis is the problem. But how should you conclude whether your analysis is choking you or it is appropriate? After all, one person’s level of analysis varies from another. Perhaps, if you find yourself unable to take the next attempt because of ‘some reason/s’, then clearly you are overwhelmed. These ‘some reasons’ could be waiting for that advanced course, the advanced software, that expensive grammar book, that special moment, etc. The stories you narrate to yourself.

This mental blockade only worsens with every instance of it. If we break down the goals we set to pursue (that we didn’t achieve) and our activities from the time we began them, we’ll only find more of these reasons and how they spiralled us out to quit.

But now what?

The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second-best time is now.

– Anonymous

It’s always a better idea to create absolute garbage than to create nothing. The first programming code, the first curriculum vitae, the initial attempts to converse in a foreign language and even your first draft for life; they’re all a laughing stock.

Sure, you can join in with the world in passing that judgement as long as it doesn’t stop you from doing that activity again. The real joke is your expectation of doing it right in the first go! There is only one path to the ‘dreamland’ of perfection. And it’s this, where you create totally absurd. But that’s how you know what you don’t have to do next time!

Honestly, your first idea or impression or attempt about absolutely anything is way off from the actual thing. But you can analyse and make refinement with every iteration. But this is possible only if you have enough iterations! And that can be done only when you act!

Act today and stop not UNTIL, just like a baby who would cry, create mayhem but rather give it one more try, than not! What total garbage would you produce today so that you can produce a slightly better version of it tomorrow?