How “Perfect” Holds Us Back

My very first cake was a disaster. 

I’m talking sunken in the middle, burnt on the edges, and just the right shade of “I have absolutely no clue what I’m doing.” I followed the recipe to the letter. Everything was measured to the grain. Yet it still looked more like my kitchen had been through a hurricane rather than baking a simple cake.

For a good two minutes I just stared at it like the cake had personally wronged me. Fixing it wasn’t my first instinct. My first instinct was to throw it out and pretend it never existed. Maybe I’d even blame the oven.

But here’s the thing about baking: the recipe can be perfect, the measurements can be exact, and you can still mess it up. 

The only way for you to fix it is to try again.

That’s true for a whole lot more than just baking.

That’s true for this blog post even. I wrote and erased it 16 different times. Different closings, different “perfect” ways to start, and the same empty google doc looking back at me. I’d convince myself the next attempt would be flawless. And when it wasn’t? I shut my laptop and I walked away. 

We talk a lot about starting, as if that’s the big moment. But honestly getting started isn’t the hard part. What truly tests you is continuing after you mess it up. The moment when your first attempt is sitting there, burnt on the edges or caved in the middle, and you have to decide whether to try again or give up.

We don’t always recognize the grit it takes to keep going. Nobody really knows how close you came to quitting. And that grit doesn’t come from getting it right every time. It comes from giving it another shot despite the frustration and the exhaustion. It’s the bit most people don’t end up seeing, but it’s what ends up pushing you forward. 

And the thing is, every time you do it again, you get a little better. You figure out how long to leave it in the oven. You realize what parts of the process really matter and what parts you were overthinking. The edges still burn sometimes, but you stop letting that be the end of the story.

So if your “cake” didn’t come out perfectly the first time, or whatever your version of that is, don’t throw it out. Don’t let “perfect” hold it hostage. Try again. Change the recipe. Burn it twice if you have to.

Because the worst mistake you can make isn’t getting it wrong, it’s refusing to touch the oven again.