Natalie Ferno spent her undergraduate studies strictly pacing herself. She made a point of getting one hundred percent of Pure Magic locked down before letting herself advance. She did this out of an arguably rational desire to miss nothing: no important principles, no critical little details. It felt like running on the spot.

— Ra

She saw a profound clue to Fremen technology in the simple fact: they were perfectionists.

— Dune

Perfectionism is the great spanner in the words, creator of the fear of the blank page, conjuring up terrible feelings before there even is anything to be a perfectionist about. It is the inhibitor of many a magnum opus. It is rooted in superfluous anxiety; something to be rooted out.

Yet it can be a force of good when controlled, or so this old Cal Newport post argues. Its power, then, is to drive you out of your comfort zone. Be perfectionist and the mediocre suddenly offends; the plateau of acceptable performance needs to be overcome or at least risen. Shitty prototyping tools cease to please. You graduate from someone who watched a YouTube tutorial to someone with skills in fields other’s have to look up on Wikipedia, and it will show in your work.

Or, of course, it may just lead you to never ship anything at all.

This is a Mini-Essay in the spirit of learning in public. Feedback is truly welcome. Until next time!