What's Your First Draft?

In previous blogs, I’ve written about breaking down a big project into small steps. Even labeling them as Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, etc. 

Doing this can take the overwhelm out of a massive project and help you set some realistic expectations - at least that’s the hope. 

I was listening to my main man Ed Mylett’s podcast the other day and he was talking with an author. I’m not going to lie but I zoned out for a minute but then heard him start talking about perfectionism (pretty sure that’s something he covers in a chapter in his book). Both what his thoughts are on it and how he overcomes them. 

“I think about it being my first draft.”

For some reason, this caught my attention. And I thought…what kind of expectations do we put on something that’s our first draft? Not a whole lot, right? As I think back to high school English class I’m sure my teacher would agree because that class was rough!

IMO perfectionism is completely overrated but we can’t say it doesn’t show up more than we’d like. I know it creeps in for me!

The expectations we put on ourselves can be on a whole other level that we’d never expect from someone else. So, what if when we’re learning something new, creating something new, or introducing something new we think of it as our first draft? 

Would that help you take your first step faster?
Would that help you remove the fear of what others will think?
Would that help you see that the first draft isn’t supposed to be perfect so something is better than nothing?
Would it help you unfreeze and just do whatever is needed?
Would it help you get something out and help you realize if you want to do a 2nd draft or toss it in the trash? 

The next time you’re stuck in that frozen state ask yourself what a first draft would look like and see where that leads!