Forget About Perfection
We are raised as kids to getting things done just right, even perfectly... and that's a huge problem when you're creating. After all we all know by now that you can wait for a long time to get that perfect article or book written.
Perfection is one of the most unhelpful standards when you're learning new skills and you need to implement them. It can stop people in their tracks for years because they need to keep learning to be ready to start actually working on that project because they have to get it just right and perfect.
It's so much better to just roll the dice, get started and keep learning along the way without waiting for the perfect understanding or having a lightening bolt of inspiration that brings the brilliance you've been waiting for to begin.
We need to trust that good enough and getting into action will bring the right performance and the perfect words or images that are necessary and get busy beginning. Then things can find their way into momentum and they will indeed begin to take shape.
There's no perfect moment and there's no perfect time. Procrastination and perfectionism are so closely linked because when you're looking at things through a filter of creating the perfect blog or book you simply don't get started.
When we were kids in school there was a clear deadline so the work had to be handed in or the test had to be written. We were quite literally saved from ourselves. But as an entrepeneur many times there is no deadline so people get stuck trying to create the perfect "thing" and keep studying before they actually begin.
This is really the time to work with the Ready, Fire, Aim plan and get started and learn along the way. After all you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. Then you can learn along the way and be learning by actually experiencing the work not just the theory.
So it's more important to be striving for progress and not perfection. And to never judge your present realilty by someone else's who's actually been doing the work for 10 or 15 years. Simply begin, create and have fun with the process. And remember as the awesome Marie Forleo says it's all figureoutable. You've just got to get started.
How about you? Do you look for perfection or just get on with it?
Recent Comments
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Great post Judy and I look at it in two ways.
1. When you have a deadline to turn something in or get something done, you do the best that you can to get it as perfect as possible. I lived this for 25+ years in the video game industry.
We always had deadlines to meet and the games had to be as close to perfect as possible. Never was there a game that went into production that was perfect and there never will be.
2. When you are not up against a deadline or finite end being perfect can and will slow you down, perhaps even stop you. As you have stated above, get started and learn along the way.
Nothing and no one is perfect, so trying to achieve perfection is a lost cause from the start. "You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." - Zig Ziglar
“If you are persistent you will get it. If you are consistent you will keep it.” Tom Short.
“Be inspired so your strength and ambitions in life strengthen your willpower to perform.” Tom Short
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“We need the joy of celebrating to accelerate the next project for a life of quality.” Tom Short.
“You are the creation of your success now and forever.” Tom
Short.
Tom.
I am an old bugger from the land down under now living in the Australian bush learning the internet to keep my brain active.
Tom.
Fabulous quotes! I'm going to have to look up Tom Short. First I've heard of him... absolutely brilliant.
Thanks so much!
Bonnie Bruderer says that first, we have to change how we think about the word perfect. “Perfectionism has a connotation that it’s a good thing, but if it’s something that keeps you from your goals, then it’s a problem,” she says.
Hi Judy,
Good post, I’m definitely a “fly by the seat of my pants” kinda girl, many times it’s not appropriate, many times it is.
I have learnt much from my mistakes (failures) in fact more so than I have from my successes.
I think that is what you are saying,
& feel the fear and just on with it. You never know it might not be as bad as you thought.....👍
Hi Judy. We definitely don't need perfection but we do need consistency . I like to get on with it ,but I do like to give my audience something worth reading. We need to remember that if we publish a blog that has some faults these can be rectified. We are able to improve published blogs at anytime. Jim
You're so right. More important to do your best in the moment, publish and you can always edit later if need be. Thanks :)
Hi Judy,
Enjoyed the post. Perfectionism is something I've always struggled with. There have been times when it was a blessing and many times a curse.
Over the years I've found ways to overcome it, but I have to say that article writing has really helped. Like you said, you just can't get anything done if your trying to get it perfect. So I write the best I can and let it go.
Thanks,
Michael
Thanks so much, I really appreciate that. Perfectionism can most certainly be a double edged sword. It's so true, with time and awareness it can be mastered.
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Look for excellence, not perfection. There is no other stressful task than to be perfect, get excellence, the best way.
What a great way to look at things. Striving for excellence makes so much more sense. Thanks so much!