Why I’m Giving Up on Perfection

For years, I’ve thought about creating YouTube Videos.

It has become an endless cycle of going into my planner, writing down video ideas, making shot lists, even filming a few b-rolls, but never getting to actually editing and uploading it on YouTube.

There are moments when I think, “I’d start when I get a better, newer camera,” or “When I have this or that,” so I could make the perfect video. But aiming for perfection and having endless excuses only make me procrastinate and keep pushing back what I actually need to do.

A few days ago, I went through some of my footages in Bangkok last year. I missed traveling so much and wanted to create something to express my longing for that feeling of adventure and my longing to be lost in an unfamiliar place again.

In the end, I was able to weave a few clips into a 25-second video and the fulfillment and joy I felt doing that and watching the end product was immense.

After that, I realized that being limited actually propelled me to become more creative because there exists the challenge of creating something that speaks to me out of a limited amount of resources, and in my case, limited video footages.

Today, I am breaking that cycle. I don’t need perfection if aiming for it only causes me not to do anything in the end.

Today I am giving myself permission to make mistakes, to not be perfect, and learn along the way. I’d probably look back at this post or the work I’ve created in this period of time and cringe at the quality. But I know my future self would thank me for starting. So I am starting.