The Journey of Growth: Why Perfection Can Be Detrimental
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Chapter 1: Embracing Your Unique Journey
It's futile to measure your Day #1 against someone else's Day #1,000.
As someone who enjoys the insights of finance YouTuber Graham Stephan, particularly his often-overlooked podcast, The Iced Coffee Hour, I recently encountered a guest I hadn’t previously known. Nuseir Yassin, known as Nas Daily, dedicated 1,000 days to producing one-minute videos, investing countless hours of effort long before I heard of him on Graham's show. What truly captivates me is his motivation behind creating those 1,000 videos.
Currently, Nas boasts 43 million followers across various platforms, but there was a pivotal moment on Day #230 when he almost gave up. By Day #400, over one million people had discovered Nas Daily, and by the end of his journey, on Day #1,000, he had amassed 11.8 million followers.
So, what drove the creation of 1,000 videos? As Nas articulates, the most talented individuals—top filmmakers and creatives—often need just a single opportunity to produce their masterpiece that may land them a major deal. They are already exceptional in their fields.
However, Nas does not consider himself to be the most gifted or creative. He recognizes that he can refine his work daily, ensuring each new video is an improvement over the last. Through this iterative approach, by Day #1,000, he earned the attention of 11.8 million viewers, despite having little indication of future success on Day #230. His explanation of this process is well worth the brief two and a half minutes it takes to listen to him discuss it.
In essence: the quest for perfection can be detrimental to your mindset. It's toxic to believe that your Day #230 (or even Day #1) must match someone else's Day #1,000.
The challenges faced on Day #1,000 will arrive, but the struggles of your Day #1 are significant in their own right. Furthermore, how can you be certain you will even reach Day #1,000?
Section 1.1: Understanding Life's Value
Many individuals trade their time for money. While there's no disgrace in this, it's essential that time is willingly exchanged; otherwise, it borders on a form of modern slavery. When employment drains your life for mere currency, it becomes a detrimental trade-off.
For Nas, despite earning a respectable $120,000 per year at Venmo, he realized he was bartering his life for money. He understood that each day lost was a day he could never reclaim—his 20s were gone forever. Thus, he had to evaluate the worth of a year of his life, ultimately deciding it was worth $500,000.
What could he pursue that justified that value? It certainly wasn't a job at Venmo. He concluded that engaging with fascinating individuals and creating compelling videos about those experiences would be worth the $500,000, even if it didn’t yield that much in actual revenue.
His next epiphany was recognizing that only two entities know when your life will end: God and Google. After researching the average life expectancy of males in America, which is 76 years, he realized that at 24, he had already lived 32% of his life. This revelation highlighted the number of days he had already lost.
Naturally, this prompted a unique change in his wardrobe. He began wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with a progress bar that tracks how much of his life he had completed, complete with a percentage visible in his reflection. At the time of his appearance on The Iced Coffee Hour, he was at 39% of his life expectancy.
Interestingly, every eight months of life equates to one percentage point being added to that total. So, every eight months, he recalculates and designs a new t-shirt. Brilliant!
Nas has dedicated 32%-39% of his life to building Nas Daily, an endeavor that has proven to be one of the most fulfilling experiences he's ever had, encompassing 1,000 days and countless hours of creative effort. This practice of creativity and iteration is crucial for personal growth.
It's illogical to compare your Day #1 to someone else's Day #1,000.
Embrace the journey, as fellow YouTuber Roberto Blake wisely advises. Every individual you admire has traversed their own difficult paths, filled with moments of doubt and the temptation to give up.
You've heard of them today because they persevered. Perhaps, in 1,000 days, we will hear your story if you choose not to quit.
All the best,
Matt Karamazov
P.S. While it took me longer than 1,000 days, I managed to read and take notes on over 1,000 books. You can explore my complete reading list and other valuable resources on my website.
Chapter 2: The Impacts of Perfectionism
In the TEDxMalibu talk titled "The Pursuit of Perfection," Kate Neligan discusses how the relentless chase for perfection can hinder personal growth and well-being.
Chapter 3: Health and Perfection
Thomas Curran, in his video "Why the Pursuit of Perfection is Bad for Your Health," addresses the psychological and physical consequences of striving for an unattainable ideal.