Story Time!
I’ve got a story for you guys! Ooh, stories… Anyway, I had a rather interesting night last night and had several thoughts dashing through my mind which I wanted to document on here.
Last night after retreating from piles of work to continue in the morning, I decided to read for a while. If you’re wondering what book, it’s the ‘7 habits of the highly effective people’ which is looking great so far.
Whilst I examined the words in my book, I could peek out to observe lightning strikes that stunned my peripheral vision. They were momentary, successive and bright! So I decided, screw my reading, I’d rather try to get a good picture of Nature in its striking form. And I grabbed my DSLR, set a pillow on the windowsill to blunt out the pain on my elbows from holding the camera at a fixed position. Then, I waited. It was just me and the dark unforgiving sky rattling away whilst drops of rain flood the street. Serene, I thought, for a day in the Summer. But thankfully, the wind whistled through the windows and into my room and also brushed my hair as I patiently waited…
Then I see through my camera’s preview a massive, vivid lightning strike like never before! It was like those exceptional moments of appreciation and realisation of Nature’s superiority. And shivers were sent down my spine. But…
I clicked the image too late.
Darn it, I thought. What an opportunity! If I could show that to my family, they would be stunned! Then my cycle starts again and I try to wait for the perfect moment. Patiently. I express my excitement for the first strike by bothering my brother who sat behind me to work. While I continue bothering him, I am alarmed with a second strike!
And guess what!?
I missed it! AAAAH! I was super annoyed.
At that point, it rained cats and dogs. My tiny bit of hope had almost vanished and I was frustrated with myself.
I chased around the house looking for lightning strikes in different directions and even the rumbling came to a halt which dried up all the hop from my ‘well of hope’. Then I finally decided to sleep. Why did I take this decision?
On Perfection
Firstly, I think that with goals, we should see the bigger picture. In my example, the goal is an image of a lightning strike which I failed in. But my goal has a time range of 7 days so I still have 7 days to try to get that picture. Then I realised that perhaps it’s better for me to sleep as I don’t want to sacrifice my health for the sake of something that can be achieved(possibly) in the next 7 days.
I find this while taking breaks as well. Sometimes, I exhaust myself with too much work and I remind myself that taking a break is part of the process of working; it helps my health stay consistent.
Another thought I have which stems from this idea is that we should question ourselves ‘what’s the worst-case scenario’ and prepare for that possibility to occur as well. In my case, it’s a simple picture which I have a lifetime to capture. And I’m not troubled by it in my dreams so I guess I’m not too desperate for it. This is why I feel that there is no need to try to be perfect with our attempt. Now, if the matter is something professional, I believe it requires more ‘perfection’ as you don’t get so many opportunities…
But I still believe that nothing has to and can be perfect. Life is all about trying and trying again until you make it. It’s an iterative process of determined attempts. And, that’s what applies to me as well. I can keep trying for the image and one day, I am bound to get it!
Quantity vs quality
This nests onto another idea that frequently creeps into my mind. Quality vs quantity. It’s the big question… Do I prioritise quality or quantity?
TL;DR – quantity initially and shift towards quality as the audience increases.
For your work to be recognised by a broader audience, you need to first reach out to them with some value. This is why with YouTube or blogging, you first start by building up a ‘coliseum of ideas’ so that you can churn out the quantity aspect of things. And once the audience booms, you can produce with greater quality. I still think that you can’t be perfect as something or the other will hold back perfection due to the personal opinions of the large audience.
So, I believe that initially, you should focus on creating valuable content at a regular rate and then shift the equilibrium to the quality side of things.
But I would instantly stop if you’re trying to create the ‘perfect’ video. Focusing too much on the quality just doesn’t add any effect and worse, it steals time that you could spend on other activities. It’s not worth trying to be perfect because you are endlessly walking without a fixed destination. That’s my opinion at the present moment.
Is the fact that I missed the image still haunting me? No, not really. There’s a decay rate to everything and I know that another opportunity will allow me to reach my goal. This is why I am not thinking about it too much. That said, I do think that we should try our best to be patient and get to our goals but only until a certain point. Crossing the extreme for the sake of perfection is a dangerous ‘out-of-bounds’ area. This is not anything to do with passion though. If you truly are passionate about something, nothing is stopping you. But knowing the limits and being conscious about your expenditure of time and money is recommended.
These points are merely my thoughts and nothing else. I am learning all of these things myself and trying to document it so that I open you up into my style of thought. So, I want to reiterate that I am no expert in these topics but I am allowed to write my thoughts down. Which I hope have allowed you to take something away! Thanks for reading!
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