Something is better than nothing
I've known that on some level for a few years, but recently a friend of mine introduced the concept to me in those words, with examples from her own life, and it's sort of become a mantra. There's a perfectionist in me that doesn't want to do things if they're going to be incomplete/not done "right"/whatever. I blame Yoda. And Dad.
I'm not suggesting that everything in life should be done haphazardly in order to get things done. I think this idea is best when combined with "choose your battles." Some things need to be done a certain way, or in a certain order, or can't be done halfway or set aside in the middle or started without a detailed plan. But the majority of things that need doing don't fall into those categories. I have beautiful new curtains in my room because "something is better than nothing" made me realize I had no curtains for all these years because my brain was insisting they had to be the "right" curtains. After 11 years I wasn't ever going to decide what that meant, and I certainly wasn't going to achieve perfection. But I could figure out what would make me happy enough in a curtain, and I now have that instead of no curtains.
I'm also not saying people should settle for something that isn't what they want. I'm saying there's often a lot of ground between "exactly what I want" and "zippo" that would be perfectly acceptable and happy-making, and people don't always realize that waiting for perfection turns out to be the same as choosing not to have anything.
That said, I do have to be careful about letting NextDayShippingIsn'tFastEnough Girl use this as an excuse to run off and do things without thinking. But in any case it's reasonable to ask "what do I get out of waiting?" Sometimes waiting means I save money, or get something slightly better, or have more fun, or other positive things. but sometimes what I get out of waiting is...more nothing. I don't need more of that.
I'm not suggesting that everything in life should be done haphazardly in order to get things done. I think this idea is best when combined with "choose your battles." Some things need to be done a certain way, or in a certain order, or can't be done halfway or set aside in the middle or started without a detailed plan. But the majority of things that need doing don't fall into those categories. I have beautiful new curtains in my room because "something is better than nothing" made me realize I had no curtains for all these years because my brain was insisting they had to be the "right" curtains. After 11 years I wasn't ever going to decide what that meant, and I certainly wasn't going to achieve perfection. But I could figure out what would make me happy enough in a curtain, and I now have that instead of no curtains.
I'm also not saying people should settle for something that isn't what they want. I'm saying there's often a lot of ground between "exactly what I want" and "zippo" that would be perfectly acceptable and happy-making, and people don't always realize that waiting for perfection turns out to be the same as choosing not to have anything.
That said, I do have to be careful about letting NextDayShippingIsn'tFastEnough Girl use this as an excuse to run off and do things without thinking. But in any case it's reasonable to ask "what do I get out of waiting?" Sometimes waiting means I save money, or get something slightly better, or have more fun, or other positive things. but sometimes what I get out of waiting is...more nothing. I don't need more of that.