In the world of writers, I feel like an imposter. For years, I’ve dreamed of letting my thoughts land somewhere in the world outside my mind, but I never felt like I had enough of a concrete plan to get started. I still don’t. 

Recently, however, I’ve realized that not knowing doesn’t mean I can’t act.  

Let’s travel a few years back in time.

At 17, I realized I wanted to be a published author. Words and ideas pressed on every corner of my mind, begging to be released into the world. Writing something that could help others understand their world and their mind seemed to be the ideal way to repay the many wonderful writers who’d influenced mine. 

When I’d leave the clouds of my mind and return to reality, however, I felt incredibly far from my goal. How could I, a high school girl who liked to read, be qualified to publish something? Over and over again, I told myself I wasn’t good enough to publish a website, reach out to student blogs, enter a competition, or take any other action that indicated real progress. For more than three years, that mindset persisted. I continued living with this dream but refused to take action. I never felt like I had the time or skill to produce my best work. 

Have you ever turned in an assignment, finished a project, or completed a sports performance and thought, “that wasn’t my best work”? 

I’m constantly talking myself out of executing projects and ideas because I think I can produce a better product in the future.  When I have more time, more experience, more focus, then will I turn my dreams into reality. 

I fear that the phrase “best work,” prevents many of the best ideas from being born. I could spend the next ten years working on an idea to ensure it’s my absolute best work, but will that idea still be relevant ten years from now? Probably not, and I’d have spent ten years thinking about doing something without ever taking the first step.  

Perfection is paralyzing. 

I had this realization in a meeting at work a few weeks ago, where one of my mentors quoted Jeff Bezos’s philosophy on decision making.    

“Most decisions should probably be made with somewhere around 70 percent of the information you wish you had,” Bezos wrote in a letter. “If you wait for 90 percent, in most cases, you’re probably being slow.” 

I was fascinated. I’d never thought that taking a little bit more time to get closer to 100%–closer to perfection–would often prove to be a crippling mistake.   

But time is our most valuable resource, and we constantly overestimate the time we have to achieve our dreams.  

Let’s change how we think about the idea of “best work.” In the next week, in a specific area of your life, what does your best work look like?

For me, in terms of my writing, my best work this week looks like a final draft of this essay. It’s a small achievement, but it’s something I can commit to. Instead of saying I’ll publish a perfect collection of essays on a stunning website a year from now, I’m ensuring my best work in a time frame that I can foresee. By committing myself to produce a specific product in the short term, even if it doesn’t meet my (unrealistically) high standards, I am forcing myself to practice. I am committing to action today. 

Consistent practice places our focus on the process instead of the perfect outcome. Focus on perfecting the process instead of producing something perfect, and you will get much closer to where you want to be. 

By choosing to act amidst uncertainty, I’ve realized that joy and fulfillment come through the process of trying, failing, learning, and trying again. 

The reality of life is that action is the channel to perfection. We will never achieve what we hope to achieve through thoughts alone.  

By needing to feel 90 percent or 100 percent sure about something, we kill many of our greatest ideas.

Don’t let the paralysis of perfection take any more of yours.  

So, whatever idea you have, whatever dream lives in your mind–even if you’re only 70 percent sure about it–take the first step today.