Week 7: Perfectionism: An Expensive Illusion

Week 7: Perfectionism: An Expensive Illusion

From Words to Write by by Words to Write by

May 20, 2026 · 46 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the concept of perfectionism as an illusion and its impact on creativity and productivity.

A funny thing happened while we were reading the latest chapter of Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way. She actually had some good advice. That line about how making art is less about "thinking it up than getting it down" that’s simple, but completely true. And her description of perfectionism as "an expensive illusion of safety" hit even harder. Unpacking that idea led us somewhere unexpected: why we cling to perfectionism even when we know it's killing our productivity, where jealousy fits in,...

Topics covered

  • perfectionism
  • productivity
  • art
  • self-improvement
  • jealousy

Keywords

  • perfectionism
  • The Artist's Way
  • Julia Cameron
  • art
  • productivity
  • self-improvement
  • jealousy

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