A photography professor at the University of Florida had his class split up into two groups. One group was told that their grade was determined by the quantity of photos they’ve taken. That is, the more photos they take, the better their score. The other group was told that they will be judged on the quality of their photos. That is, the better their photo, the better their score.

By the end of the class, the professor found that the group which was graded on quantity actually had higher quality photos.

Why?

It turns out that that while the quantity group was taking so many photos, they would experiment with different lightings and techniques to perfect their photography skills. On the other hand, the quality group would spend all day trying to perfect their theory of photography in order to find exactly the perfect photo to take. The point is, it was the quantity that over time led to the true quality.

How often do we confuse this in our own lives? We become indecisive on the best plan. The fastest route. The highest quality performance. We put off action for this notion that when we do act, it needs to be the best that it can be. Yet it just ends up being a quagmire from producing actual high quality goods

It’s not that quality isn’t the goal. It is. But it come from failing and failing and failing again and again. The more quantity you put into your work, the higher chance of you perfecting your quality.

Put in more reps. Create more videos and post. Write more blog posts. Sitting all day mesmerized by an ideal won’t get you to it. Quality is over quantity. But quantity leads to quality.