How to Overcome Perfectionism as an Artist

This is for the part of you that wants it to be perfect…

and the deeper part that just wants to begin.

Perfectionism is that mean little voice in your head saying if you just research a little more, wait a little longer, polish a little harder then maybe you’ll be ready.

But dear artist, you’re here to be a creatrix. In process. ALIVE. So others can have the permission to feel.

Let’s talk about how to overcome perfectionism as a creative… without abandoning your softness or your soul.

Doing It “Right” Is a Distraction From Doing It At All

In college, I remember obsessing over other actors’ paths.

I thought if I could just copy their choices like what they did in auditions, where they studied and the side jobs they had then I’d finally be doing it “right.” I’d copied word-for-word what their process was just like in school, and that’s all there was to success, right?

Doing what others did? Memorizing the moves?

Spoiler: I was so busy trying to trace their footsteps that I forgot to take my own. I even remember thinking to myself “there are some people who carve their own paths and other people who follow. I’m not resourceful enough to carve my own path.”

Again, during 2020 to 2022, I came out of this spiral a bit. I realized that I could bring a different reality to being an artist, that I could find a way to create a business online and be a content creator, sharing my experience with others via YouTube and a blog.

But back into the spiral I went! I watched creators who had 5+ years of YouTube channels and blogs do this full time and was confused why I couldn’t look exactly like them on day 1.

Their fully-formed brands made me feel like I had to show up already polished, instead of allowing myself to be in-process.

I didn’t see their messy start, so it didn’t exist, right?

The truth is, trying to do it “right” just stalled me. The real way to learn how to overcome perfectionism as a creative is to start before you’re ready, and trust you’ll become as you go.

We Want Beauty to Happen Overnight

We’re artists — of course we want the thing to be beautiful!

But beauty is so subjective.

What you see as C+ might be an A to someone else.

You might cringe at your blog draft, but someone else reads it and finally feels understood.

A performance you LOVE from someone else might feel crappy on their end.

One of the deepest keys in how to overcome perfectionism as a creative is to redefine beauty entirely.

What if beauty was presence, owning yourself, stepping into a state of being where you’re in your element? What if it wasn’t being polished like we all think it is?

Not as flawlessness, but as feeling. Beauty doesn’t always arrive like lightning. Sometimes it trickles in like morning light — quiet, steady, and just enough until the next moment arrives.

Related: How to Stay Grounded as an Artist When Creativity Feels Like It’s Slipping Away

The Hidden Cost of Waiting Until It’s Perfect

Never Learning Through Action (AKA Analysis Paralysis)

When perfectionism takes the wheel, creation becomes overthinking. You plan, you research, you gather inspiration… but the page stays blank.

We convince ourselves we’re “preparing” when really, we’re stalling.

The biggest lessons ALWAYS come from actually doing, not thinking, studying, watching, even taking courses! The action is the teacher (unlike school taught us. We can’t just sit around and think that’s going to teach us.)

The only way to get better is to begin.

Self-Criticism Kills Creativity

I felt this hard during gymnastics.

One wobble on the beam and I’d spiral into self-loathing.

There was no room for play. I loved flying in the air — it was my own sense of freedom akin to performing onstage. But I couldn’t be anything but perfect. Literally. Perfection IS the goal of gymnastics.

Years later, in voice lessons, my vocal coach Molly Dunn gave me a revelation: “When you perform, forget everything we’re going through right now. This is your time to have fun.”

That changed everything. In that moment, the performance became art, not a test. I realized (remembered, maybe?) why I love performing so much.

Creativity requires freedom. And self-criticism during that moment of inception or performance will kill any freedom. The more free you are, the better your performance.

How to Overcome Perfectionism as a Creative

Make Art From Where You Are, Not Where You “Should” Be

Manifestation is beautiful. Dressing and acting like your future self? I’m all for it!

But when you’re “shoulding” instead of dreaming, it feels heavy. Instead of “I should already be there,” try “I’m becoming her now.” One honors your path. The other erases it.

I’ve worked hard to gently alleviate any time I say “should” in my life, be it with family, friends, business or life. It’s changed my life!!

Create Soft Deadlines & Rituals Over Strict Routines

I used to think strict deadlines made me disciplined. That’s what school teaches you, right? Get this paper done BY THIS DATE BECAUSE… the teacher said so.

Now as adults we think in order to be “successful” we need to create the same empty urgency. It squeezes the soul out of the creative process… and makes us feel even worse about ourselves.

I was just talking to my friend about the 75 Hard. It’s a lifestyle challenge where for 75 days, you challenge yourself to do 5 key things. If you skip a day, or don’t do all 5 things, you need to start over.

If you’ve been in need of a challenge, this might be helpful. But if you’re starting from nothing, I feel like it sets you up to fail. Going from 0 to 100, changing around your lifestyle to challenge yourself because… you can… can make many people go a little crazy!

Many creatives start with this “75 Hard” mindset — we feel we need to go from where we are to where someone else is IMMEDIATELY. OMG, I need a website! I need to learn web design, post a blog every single week, and have my website look like Marie Forleo’s in a week!

I dare you to create gentle rituals without setting due dates. As of now, I don’t really have any due dates for my business. And because of that, I actually get motivated to create more because I want to create, not because I need to.

I create when it feels good and I focus on that feel-good feeling so I never resent it.

This has been one of the biggest ways on how to overcome perfectionism in my life — getting rid of anything forcing, and instead inviting a gentle, flowing, freeing energy to the table. It’s done magic to my business and my life.

Celebrate Tiny Wins Every Day

We underestimate the power of 1%, right?

Being 1% better every day makes you 100% better in 100 days. Progress compounds!

And when you celebrate small wins (posting once, sharing a messy draft, writing for ten minutes), you prove to your nervous system that it’s safe to create.

I joined a program to start my content, branding & design studio, Studio Violet, and within it, we not only share wins with each other every week (personal and professional wins) but I also go through a journaling entry that has me write down all my business- and non-business-related tasks I got done the day before.

This is especially helpful for my neurodivergent besties out there who need to remember that they’re not wasting time, but they’re getting things done!

Welcome the Messy & Ugly

Think of your favorite performances. I think of Euphoria, one of my favorite TV shows EVER!!

The style, makeup, editing, soundtrack, and aesthetics are all, well, euphoric. They’re gorgeous, romantic and ethereal, almost like we’re on another planet.

But the emotions are raw, real, ugly, snotty, shaking, and GLORIOUS!

That’s what moves us — not perfection, but presence.

The rawness is the resonance. If we wait until our work is pristine, we risk it never being seen at all. Learning how to overcome perfectionism in creative fields means being brave enough to share the version that’s still smudged with humanity, because for others, that’s just a part of their euphoria.

Related: How to Find Your Passion When You’re Burnt Out, Stuck & Scared

Remember That Art Isn’t a Test & Address Triggers Where You’d Been Judged

When I was in school, every creative act felt like it had to be graded.

Your art paper? Judged. Your monologue? Judged.

Even your outfit or vibe? JUDGED. HARD. And not by the teachers grading us!

So it makes sense that now, years later, we still feel like someone’s holding a red pen over our shoulder when we open a blank page.

But art isn’t a test — it’s a release. A spell.

I had to unlearn this slowly. I started noticing where I felt frozen when I would try to self-tape or write or even post about my creative journey, I felt this awful pressure like everyone was watching and evaluating me. Heck, it honestly happens every time I post.

That little trigger that an adult is going to say “that’s not right!” It’s the trigger that many of us have when we were shamed or silenced.

Piece by piece, I work to heal from that — and you can too! You’re not in school anymore. You’re not performing for a panel, teachers, adults. You’re creating as a beautiful act of service for the world.

This is one of the most tender parts of learning how to overcome perfectionism as a creative. It asks us not just to make, but to reclaim.

To rewrite the rules around who’s allowed to make, and what “good” even means!

You get to decide that now. And I hope you choose freedom.

Perfection Isn’t the Portal—You Are!

No formula, strategy, or aesthetic will ever be more powerful than your essence.

That’s the secret to how to overcome perfectionism as an artist: remember that you are the magic. Not the font. Not the lighting. Not the algorithm. You. Your softness. Your humanity. Your weird, wild, unfinished thoughts.

Let that be enough. Let that be the art. I’ll see you in the mess. 😌