Embracing Imperfection

Many creative people hesitate to share their work because they don’t feel they have anything worth showing. A solution to this problem is to share the creation process, not the finished products. By distinguishing between these two aspects of creativity, seek to reframe the idea of sharing your work. Perfectionists set high standards for themselves or others and obsess over succeeding.

An excellent way to do this is to focus on the things you love — the work, the ideas, the artists, and so on. Keep calm. It’s easy to magnify fears about what people might think. Invite criticism: By courting criticism, you’ll inoculate yourself to it and will learn how to take it better. Absorb well-intentioned criticism. This kind of criticism can be beneficial. Frame unfair criticism as praise. This kind of criticism is often motivated by jealousy or some other weakness in your critic. Don’t share anything too sensitive. If you don’t feel comfortable opening up certain parts of yourself, don’t. Keep moving forward: Criticism will come; don’t let it stop you. Remember, you’re more than what you do. Maintain distance between your work and your identity. People tend to value things based on their understanding of the context of those things. Contextualizing your work is a matter of crafting a story.