Done is better than perfect

Original article written on 6th October, 2019

It’s around 6:30 pm.

I did not plan on writing this post because I had actually switched on my laptop to take a few notes for my psychology chapter but then a notification from WordPress popped up and I could not stop myself from clicking on it. In short, I ditched my studies to write something (after some time).

So, I was watching this docu series of Bring The Soul movie of BTS (yeet) on Tuesday. The episode that I was watching then that is ep5 has been revolving in my mind this whole week. Well, not the whole episode but a line from that ep.

In this episode, the members (of BTS) were talking about ‘cordiality’; and that is when one their member (RM) referred to a quote he had once read somewhere- “Done is better than perfect.” That quote got me thinking. I mean the meaning derived out of this line is so ….true, umm , I don’t know how to explain this  accurately(bouts of  alexithymnia, again!).

“My favorite quote these days is, done is better than perfect. I think it means that doing something is better than trying just to be perfect. That’s how I see it. I liked it. ‘Done is better than perfect.’ Nothing is really ever perfect. So these days, I’ve taken that quote to heart. I think too much.” – Kim Namjoon

There are many moments in life when you aim for perfection. Being a student, I always wanted to excel in my studies and exams. There was a time when I was so focused on getting 95% in my annual exam that I stopped enjoying my life. All the time, my mind was preoccupied with the study load; I was constantly thinking about how to manage all the subjects in a month for preparation. Ultimately, this all over thinking, as I would say led to a burnt out effect. I couldn’t think of anything else but my studies and slowly stress bottled up inside of me and it came to a verge where I could not handle my emotions. So, now after a gap of around 5 to 6 months I realised that I could have just done all that i.e in terms of efforts instead of aiming for something abstract, perfection.

Done is better than perfect. Rather than focusing on making everything perfect we should get it done first. It’s okay not to be perfect. There is perfection in imperfection itself; it makes you real, not picture perfect! Neither was Cinderella nor was Einstein.