Before I begin... the below is all relative to each individual... and is never to detract from other life priorities.
I was teaching the other day and despite it still being a fair way through their first year of Architectural studies, and a constant and persistent reminder that they need to stop getting stuck on the smaller details and focus on the production of content in order to develop and hone in their skills, they still like to try and be obsessive perfectionists and stop producing due to their lack of skills completely!
It’s a reminder that you can’t expect to be an expert without having done a certain amount of purposeful practice.
The same can be said for most professions. Let’s take my approach to training for example.
A lot of the winter is spent putting in a lot of training (quantity), without too many ‘hard’ sessions, making sure I’m laying the foundations for the hard work to come.
This then shifts slightly by maintaining the volume, but starting to introduce more quality into the mix, before eventually having very specific quality sessions to prepare me to race.
The foundations of everything comes from that quantity… whether it be architectural studies, within the workplace acquiring knowledge, or in a sporting environment… you could even relate it to growing up as a kid. I was fortunate enough that my parents allowed me to do any sport I wanted (within reason of course) before eventually finding a passion and ability in swimming. This then developed into Triathlon…
Without the foundations, you can’t expect to be able to have had enough purposeful practice to be an expert in your chosen profession.
This comes with a lot of time and patience … both of which a lot of us, myself included, don’t necessarily have.
So… put in the time, introduce the quality, and the rest will take care of itself…
Don’t get bogged down in the detail.