Really interesting.
Riffing on some statements from above: Eloy Lasanta recently hit the podcast circuit promoting his Part-Time Gods of Fate 2e Kickstarter, and I heard a few interviews with him. He mentioned a few times how he is a much better designer now than he was a few years ago. It struck me because in my mind’s eye, there is only one Eloy Lasanta – this guy who puts out interesting, well-designed, nicely packaged games; I don’t see him as someone who went from newbie to seasoned indie designer who does things better now than he used to. But he says that was what it was like, and I believe him. He’s now been working long enough that he can notice when there’s a significant improvement to be made in an old product of his, and then do something fun/meaningful/creative with it. So… here’s my lateral solution to your puzzle of not being able to accomplish all 3 things at the same time… only strive to do 2 at the same time, with a hope to come back around after time has passed and capture the elusive third thing. (Of course, we don’t know if that will ever happen… and of course, it may not matter to you as much in the future that you never got around to making the fun, creative thing as meaningful as you wanted. BUT, you may be able to trick your now brain into moving forward with the project by the vague promise of perfection… someday.)