Last week I was part of an improv show that almost didn’t happen because we got caught up in overthinking and fear of getting it wrong. (Sometimes it pays to listen to our own advice: like last Wednesday’s article on the value in fearlessness of failure when it comes to creativity and self-expression.)

Admittedly, this was a new kind of show for us, part of an initiative promoting diversity within the insurance industry. We were all hyper-aware of the need for sensitivity with the subject matter.

Not only did we want to get it right, we wanted it to be perfect. We got sidetracked; tangled up in concerns about lighting, microphones and stages, while bigger fears loomed.

What if we were terrible? What if we offended people? The uncertainty nearly made us quit. If it wasn’t a cause that we so strongly believed in, we may well have.

Finally, we came to a decision that all we could do was try. Our intentions were positive and, ultimately, getting it done was more important than making it perfect.

It went well and we were pleased to have been part of it. That experience, though, highlighted for me all the ideas, projects, creative expressions and movements that never get done, often never get started, because their creators get sucked into the trap of perfectionism.

I know it well, that wolf in granny’s clothes that lurks outside creativity’s doorway, waiting to tear to shreds inspired ideas as they try to emerge.

It whispers through the keyhole, comments disguised as logic, or being realistic: it will never be good enough.

You’ll be judged. Look at all the people who are already doing that better than you could. Who cares what you have to say? Why bother?

And if we heed that stuff, those fears posing as protection, creativity stops in its tracks.

Expression halts and ideas wanting to come out to play, sharing their unique messages with the world, stay shut up inside with the door boarded up. The wickedest part: perfection isn’t even possible. It doesn’t exist. Your idea of perfect won’t be someone else’s.

Perfection is “a myth and a hamster wheel that will run you to death”, says author Elizabeth Gilbert, in Big Magic, Creative Living Beyond Fear.

It’s the perfect excuse to never start something; the greatest obstruction to getting things done.

Writer Rebecca Solnit puts it: “Perfection is not only the enemy of the good; it’s also the enemy of the realistic, the possible, and the fun.”

Isn’t it more important to actually get it done?

It helps to have outside motivation; a reason bigger than ourselves to do the creative things we do. Do it for a cause, for your children, do it because the world needs more creativity and you are the only one with your voice.

It also helps to have shared accountability. Find fellow creators and form a network and support for one another.

A kinder mindset will also coax creativity out the door. Instead of aiming for perfection, how about just aiming to try?

Not giving it your best, just give it a go. Yes, it may take work to get it good, but to get it done we must first do it.

• Julia Pitt is a trained success coach and certified NLP practitioner on the team at Benedict Associates. For further information contact Julia on 705-7488, www.juliapittcoaching.com