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August 2018

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August 8, 2018

The Problem with Perfectionism

Perfectionism is a good thing, right?  Like what could possibly be wrong with getting things 100% right 100% of the time, besides the fact that it is virtually impossible?  I mean because it is, right? Virtually impossible and if you’re a perfectionist the way that I am a perfectionist you know that all it does is cause procrastination.  As long as you haven’t done the task it still has the potential to be great!! Once you’re doing it, if it’s not up to par (which it almost never is for the professional perfectionist) then you consider the project failed.  You can’t fail something you haven’t done yet and so perfectionism becomes the fear of failing.

Don’t allow perfectionism to become the catalyst for procrastination to the detriment of your business.  JUST START.

In the book, The Now Habit by Neil Fiore, he states that “In extreme cases of perfectionism, there is no distinction between judgment of one’s work and one’s sense of value as a person.” Perfectionism can trick you into believing you are not good enough to complete a task.  Don’t judge yourself by one task. Take each project step by step and as you finish those tasks and the feeling of accomplishment sets in, not only will you start to see how crazy it is to attribute your own value to one piece of work but you will also see all of the value in the work YOU do.

If comparison is the thief of joy, perfectionism is its partner in crime.  We tend to look at someone we admire and then compare the work they have done to what we are doing.  This makes us unable to see the beauty in our own journey and our own work. We see like 10% of everyone else’s life online, are you really gonna let that need to have your 100% seem as perfect as that 10% be the thing that holds you back?  

Here are some steps to overcoming perfectionism:

  1. Why are you doing what you do?  Focus on THAT. Don’t look at how everyone else is doing it. Why are YOU doing on what you do?  Many of us are afraid of what we can’t see, afraid of the dark and prefer that which we know. So don’t have dark places in your business.  Shine light on every part of your business and know what your goals are and why you are trying to achieve them. This will help you to move forward and avoid fear.
  2. Remember that perfection is subjective!! Lots of your favorite business owners see the mistakes and messes in their work but you don’t!  The things you know or have, someone else may not and they look to you to give it to them in whatever form that may be. They see the perfect that you can’t see.
  3. Don’t focus on what you are missing, focus on what you have!  Look at what you have completed and use that as your catalyst to take the next step.  If you could complete that you can take on the next step. Setting goals will really help to take it one step at a time and a perfect project is a finished project.
  4. Find people who support your initiatives and see the value in what you do and use them as your cheer squad to keep going and moving forward.

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