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Maybe you’re not trying

(usefulfictions.substack.com)
448 points eatitraw | 3 comments | | HN request time: 0.721s | source
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nicbou ◴[] No.45945150[source]
Great post!

I find that this happens when I want to do something The Right Way, but don’t have a clear path, nor the energy to figure one out.

For example I want a nice winter wardrobe, but first I have to figure out what I like, what is trendy, where to buy it, what will suit the weather. I am wholly unprepared for it. Suddenly it’s a whole ordeal, so I just wait.

In another category - art - I had to learn to be okay with suboptimal outcomes. Each attempt teaches you something, so to make good art, you have to make a lot of bad art first. Paper is cheap and making bad art is fun once you move past perfectionism.

Socialising is the same. You get better at it through practice. Practice is fun, it makes you do fun things and meet fun people.

With “shopping problems”, you are stuck with your bad purchases, your suboptimal wardrobe. Each iteration is expensive in time and money. So you try to get it right the first time. Cue weeks of research for something that is ultimately not that important. The worst is shopping problems that have an element of taste.

If someone knows a way to deal with this, I am listening.

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1. BeFlatXIII ◴[] No.45945642[source]
> Each attempt teaches you something, so to make good art, you have to make a lot of bad art first. Paper is cheap and making bad art is fun once you move past perfectionism.

For the same reason, if it weren't for digital cameras, I never would have taken enough pictures to become competent enough to enjoy photography.

I am also all ears about anyone chiming in with an effective way to deal with shopping problems. Sometimes, I've found that what it takes is Gemini to restate what I already knew to be the conclusion but without my mental processing of trying to falsify it (Gemini, unlike real humans, doesn’t get overloaded and shut down when I ask rapid-fire advice questions).

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2. nicbou ◴[] No.45946102[source]
Writing that comment got me to try Zalando, instead of slowly mapping out and visiting every store in my city. Maybe I wasn’t trying correctly.

My friend also taught me to slowly gather an inspiration folder with things I like. I have one for clothing, home decor and art. It made my job much easier.

I have filled a shopping cart with clothes I have seen on others in the last few months. It wasn’t that hard. I was just set in my ways.

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3. BeFlatXIII ◴[] No.45966058[source]
What is Zalando, besides an island in Denmark?