When you’re a perfectionist, it’s hard not to look at your last project and constantly find things you hate about it. Legendary filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki suggests that having your next project ready is sometimes the only way to get over it.
Photo by cinemafestival (Shutterstock)
When you don’t move on, you can be caught endlessly hoping to improve what you’ve already completed. Miyazaki shares his thoughts on looking back and going forward:
Making films is all about — as soon as you’re finished — continually regretting what you’ve done. When we look at films we’ve made, all we can see are the flaws; we can’t even watch them in a normal way. I never feel like watching my own films again. So unless I start working on a new one, I’ll never be free from the curse of the last one. I’m serious. Unless I start working on the next film, the last one will be a drag on me for another two or three years.
It’s the classic concept of “looking ahead, not behind”. Stop torturing yourself over your work, accept what you’ve completed, and move on to the next big thing.
How to Avoid the Curse of Creative Perfectionism [Fast Company via 99u]
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