GanzChroma 0065
The only catalyst for transformation in your life is action. I firmly believe that taking action holds more weight than possessing a crystal-clear vision for oneself. While knowing what you want is crucial, actively pursuing those desires is paramount.
This is precisely where many of us falter. We await the arrival of a flawless plan. For students, particularly, this often means holding off on compositing until they've obtained the perfect track. However, given the nature of schools and the lack of a dedicated matchmove department, students have to track their own shots.
I've observed numerous students over the years obsess over tracking and re-tracking for hours, striving for perfection. The real insight is to spend just a few minutes on tracking; regardless of the outcome, move forward with other aspects of the shot. Why? Because tracking can either be outsourced or done manually.
Imperfect action is the remedy for the paralysis induced by perfectionism. It counters overthinking and the perpetual cycle of planning that leads nowhere. It's about embracing the messiness of trial and error, making mistakes, and learning from them. After all, engaging in imperfect action yields more lessons and growth than remaining idle.
Remember, every big achievement is a series of small, imperfect actions stacked together. I didn't wait to get a job as a compositor nor allowed someone else to tell me I was ready to teach compositing. I said, "f*ck it, I will learn as I go."
In order for someone to call my actions imperfect, there must be actions. So I acted first and dealt with the potential consequences. Also, whenever I got something wrong, I am extremely grateful for all my friends who teased me by pointing out my idiocy and proceeded to correct me.
Most of my life, I dove headfirst into the messiness of action, mind you, I don't always like embracing the discomfort of not knowing everything from the start. But as I got older, I just realized what a f*cking idiot I am. How the hell would I know how to do something I have never done before? It's total lunacy. It's just my ego talking. Just because I was great at one specific thing at one specific time in my life, does not make me an expert in other things.
So, let's reframe (there's that word again) our approach. Let's value progress over perfection, action over inaction. The path to your goals isn't a straight, well-lit highway; it's more like a winding trail through the woods at night. You might trip, or even fall, but every step, every stumble, teaches you something valuable.
I always say, if you are going to fail, might as well fail forward.
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