Someone once asked...

“im having trouble committing to my artwork (music).. i know its good and i have it in me, but i cant focus and trust myself enough to call something finished again after 5 years of noodling around.. instead i find myself working under duress, self imposed stress, fear of failure, rejection, fear of banality.. and i ignore it all so often by doing things that dont make me feel good or inspire my work... wasting away online, dopamine binging, etc.. and then i spiral in the cycle and negative self thought.. any ideas would be great”

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Someone answered with kindness...

If you insist on perfection you will be working forever on your first song. Every artist has regrets and things they wish they did better or would change in retrospect. Most works are mediocre and are never remembered. Don't fear it. Even that is success.

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Another soul answered...

Consider it finished, when you yourself enjoy it. It doesn't need to be perfect. Maybe it's a twenty second loop, but you enjoy it. You can share that, and see what others think. You'll find that people mindlessly consume and don't often judge what they see harshly. If they don't judge you, why should you judge yourself, so harshly?

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Another soul answered...

if you want to make your art work work, treat it like work instead of art. Listen to a Randy Newman interview or read, "Songwriters on Songwriting: Randy Newman" for one example.