Time for an inspirational story. Or not, depending on how you see it.
A traveler was walking along a riverbank when he heard some strangers talking about the royal sculptor who was hours away from finishing the greatest statue of his career.
The statue was to be installed on the biggest temple in the land commissioned by the King himself. Curious, the traveler decided to pay a visit.
As the traveler approached the site, he saw something strange. Next to the sculptor who was working on the statue was another identical statue. In fact an exact replica.
He approached the sculptor and asked, “Why are you making two statues exactly alike?”
“I spoilt the first statue, and had to redo the whole thing,” replied the sculptor.
Surprised, the traveler looked at the discarded statue lying on the side. He looked everywhere and couldn’t find the slightest fault. He finally asked the sculptor where the mistake was.
“Look closely at the nose, and you’ll see one of the nostrils of the deity is slightly off-center,” said the sculptor.
“Where is the statue going to be installed?” asked the traveler, still not seeing the fault even after it being pointed out.
“It’ll be installed at the top of the temple,” answered the sculptor, getting back to work.
The traveler was now thoroughly confused. The temple was about 150 feet above the ground.
“I can’t see where the mistake is even when I’m staring at it. Who would know from that height?”
“I would know. And my god would know,” replied the sculptor.
The traveler, highly impressed by the dedication of the artist, wished him luck and moved along on his journey.
Beautiful story, yes?
Hell, no!!
In the earlier stages of your entrepreneurial journey, stop being that dedicated artist. Beat the perfectionism out of yourself. Good enough is good enough.
Use the time saved by not chasing that perfectionist streak into sales, networking, and marketing. Ignore this advice at your own risk. The very existence of your fledgling business depends on being able to do this.
There is a time to be an artist, and there’s a time to be an entrepreneur. You can’t be both at the same time.
Today, be an entrepreneur. Once you stabilize your business, be the artist that you always wanted to be.
If the artist inside you is offended by what you just read, reply to this mail. I’ll try to convince you about the merits of my viewpoint a little more.
Yours,
Abhilash Purohit