Being precious, according to Scott Berkun, means to give your ideas and projects more importance then they deserve.
I have regularly fallen into that pit over the years with my writing, especially when I first started. I had a near-crippling sense of “I must get this right or I’m no good.”
But the thing is, you can’t grow as a creator unless you create some complete and utter garbage at times. You have to experiment with what doesn’t work to find what does.
Here are 3 pitfalls of being precious that may be holding you back as a creator.
1. You don’t finish what you start
If you have a fragile relationship with deadlines, final tweaks, or dead ends, you may be acting precious.
Take a look at your ideas and projects. Why are they important? Why did you start them to begin with? After that, determine why you let them fall off your plate. What made you stop prioritizing them?
This will clear out a good deal of dead ends and fluff.
Determining why you’re working on a project is equally as important as knowing what you should be spending your time on.
2. You get overly defensive about critiques
When you wait until you’re happy with your work before presenting it, you set yourself up for discontent. If you’ve poured a lot of time into something without getting feedback along the way, it will make it all the more jarring when people start pointing out what’s wrong with it.
If you include others in the early stages you release that pressure and you save yourself time.
Being easily triggered is something to be wary of in the world of creating anything. As long as you have people around that will be constructive and honest without beating you down, it’s a win-win situation.
3. You subconsiously tell yourself every project is “The One.”
If every new project you start is going to be “That Project” you may be fighting the precious mentality. Remember that even your worst ideas can lead to good ones, and not every project needs to be your ticket. Odds are none of them will be in the beginning, and that’s okay!
Treating every idea like a stepping stone will release the knot that tightens in your gut every time you start something new.
In closing
I hope this was a helpful dose of tough love for anyone out there who’s serious about growing as a creator.
Don’t be discouraged if you fall into any of these–recognizing them is half the battle.
Go make something awesome.