Do F*ck it Up

I've been sitting on this article for a few weeks now, and that is the antithesis of this story. I've gone back and forth on what I want to say, how I want to say it, and even if I want to say it. I've been chewing on whether publishing a half-baked version of this idea is "on brand" and if it's even worth sharing.

So what's the big idea?

Perfectionism. And the narrative that we've peddled for many years—on murals, memes, and more—Don't fuck it up!

Like it or not (It's a "not" for me), we live in a fast-paced world. There is constant pressure to produce—everything is content and content is everything—and we treat creation (not just content creation, but all creation) like we only have one shot to do something and do it perfectly.

This has left a lot of business owners and creators in a conundrum. They're under constant pressure to produce but are also being told they have to be the best at what they do to make headway in the market.

With this in mind, I'm left with this:

Can perfectionism and pressure co-exist?

Is there room for perfectionism in brand-building?

Perfectionism and Me

Sara Strese at Good + Ready Co., recently gave me an archetype reading. She explained that my Human Design indicates that I am an experimenter and need to learn by doing.

I've never felt so seen.

Because I'm not a perfectionist and never have been. Don't get me wrong, I love details and appreciate a methodical approach to any of the work I do, but I have a very "good enough!" attitude toward my own work—be it social content, Substack articles, or event artwork. I operate under the assumption that I will fuck it up, and that will be how I learn to do it better.

And I acknowledge that in my haphazard publishing, I've put out some real duds. Last week, I shared an article about Why I Went Paid (I give it 1 Star). A while back, I made (what I thought was) a funny post for LinkedIn that went relatively unnoticed (I give it 3 stars, but the general public would probably give it 0).

Are these things failures? No.

Could they have been better? Sure.

Can both of these things be true? Absolutely.

Just like I'm still trying to forgive myself for that weird thing I said at a Chamber of Commerce meeting 10 years ago that no one else ever gave a second thought to, I'm trying to forgive myself for the shitty content I have created and will continue to create.

@floandjoan_

Hands in the air if you also don’t know how to be normal in public. Filmed for Scala Radio #floandjoan #musicalcomedy #fypage #foryoupage

Instead of focusing on producing the best thing we can, we need to focus on producing the best thing we can right now.

The Myth of Once-in-a-Lifetime

I'm not going to pretend to know the science behind why folks (women especially) struggle with perfectionism. But if I had to guess, I would say it probably has to do with the patriarchy—doesn't everything? This is more a look at how perfectionism holds brands back and how to shake the narrative that you only have one shot, one opportunity. *Cue Eminem*

I once heard a story (and now that I write it, it sounds more like a Tumblr quote circa 2006), about a woman with tattoos1 walking in a conservative neighborhood. Another woman stopped her and asked, "How can you do something so permanent to your body?"

Woman 1: "It's all temporary"

Woman 2: "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize they were temporary tattoos."

Woman 1: "They're not. It's ALL temporary."

When I work with clients, I'm often reminded of this story because their number one question in our work is "How will we know this is right?" The answer is, we don't.

But it's all temporary.

I'm currently planning a trip to France and Amsterdam. My husband and I will be there for ten days, celebrating our tenth anniversary. But there's a small problem. There are so many things we want to do. I love World War II era history, so we have to go to Omaha Beach and the American cemetery. I love architecture, so we have to go to Mont St Michel. We both love food, so we have to go to all the best restaurants. I'm packing this itinerary FULL, because who knows when we'll ever be back?

This trip feels like a once-in-a-lifetime and the pressure that comes with that is immense—so much so that it makes the trip itself feel overwhelming and a little stressful.

And that, my friends, is the exact opposite of what I want this tenth-anniversary celebration trip to be.

I have to assume that I will be back and I can see it next time. Otherwise, I'll never feel like I got everything I wanted from this trip. Though, the only thing I actually want and need from this trip is to spend uninterrupted time with my husband.

I've decided to stop planning the best trip ever, and instead start planning the best trip for right now.

The same is true for the article you're writing, the LinkedIn post you're making, and the speech you're going to give in front of 500 people tomorrow. It's all temporary.

The internet makes everything temporary (and even more temporary than ever before)! You can edit the article in the future. Hell, you can unpublish it if you really want to. You can repost the LinkedIn post because chances are your followers didn't see it the first time around. You may not be able to erase every video of the speech you gave, but you can give a better one next time.

This isn't an excuse to not do a good job. It's just a way to release the pressure and stop (over-) thinking of everything as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—including your brand.

How to Build the Perfect Brand

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