In the movie Amadeus, Antonio Salieri recounts his life in his old age, his love of music, and his hatred of a composer named Mozart. Mozart, he claimed, was always able to create better music than he, and it drove Salieri crazy because he so desperately wanted to create great music. Yet, he lived in the shadow of this young musical prodigy, who was so much more adept at composing and for whom it seemed to be effortless.

And so, Salieri stewed. He questioned his faith and railed against the heavens for instilling in him the drive to create music without giving him the ability. And in the end of the movie, Salieri poisons Mozart in a jealous rage. (Critics question the historical accuracy of the latter part of the film.)

Salieri could have continued to focus on his music. He could have committed to writing a new musical piece each and every day, no matter how lousy it might have been. And instead, he focused his efforts on sabotaging Mozart.

Most of us aren't Mozarts, endowed with natural ability and talent that flows out of us without a struggle. That means we have the same choice. And as it turns out, being imperfect is a pretty common excuse for not trying, because in almost every walk of life, someone is busy out-doing and out-performing us in the same area. Cynicism is a lousy defense.

Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly, until you can do it better. Salieri chose wrong.