Perfectionism - Why It Gets You Nowhere!
Did you know that perfectionism is a time waster that kills your progress?
This was something I had to learn the hard way, lol. I’ve always been a perfectionist, but I don’t want you, as a beginner, to struggle like I did back in the beginning.
This is what I learned…
Your content does not need to be perfect. When you’re just starting out, you think that everyone else’s content looks so much better than yours. It’s looks better, sounds more knowledgeable, etc.
That’s why I overcompensated to make my content look perfect, because I compared myself to others. But here’s the problem… it slowed down my business drastically.
Why?
- Because it took up too much of my time.
- Because I ended up not publishing anything because I was never satisfied.
Being a perfectionist will destroy your progress. But there are some things that can help you get past this:
- Accept that you can only do your best at the time. It’s like building a new career. It takes time because you’re building a whole new skill set.
- Accept that to move forward, you must be comfortable publishing content, setting up funnels, and implementing your business at 75% "perfect."
Comparing yourself to others is the number one reason for procrastination, self-doubt, and self-loathing. When you compare yourself, you tend to start overthinking, which leads to perfectionism.
Remember… when you start building your business, you don’t have all the resources that more experienced marketers may have. It’s by publishing quickly that you gain the experience you need. That’s more important at this stage than perfect content.
Do the best that you can at the time, and move forward!!
The Bottom LineIf you don’t publish at 75% perfect,
- You’ll never improve because there’s nothing to measure.
- You’ll never improve because you’re not getting hands-on experience.
- Your business won’t grow because you’re not building the foundation.
The best advice I can impart is to use “KISS”. Keep it simple stupid! Haha.
Remove those things that are out of reach of your current skillset, and implement what you can do.
And please…
- Quit worrying about perfecting your website that doesn’t have any visitors yet.
- Don’t tackle huge topics like “The Ultimate ….”.
- Don’t spend thousands of dollars on equipment or software that takes hours to learn how to use.
- Stop worrying about what people think. Unfortunately, no one cares about your feelings.
- Don’t blame everything and everyone when you make a mistake. Learn from it and move on.
I look forward to your comments and any more advice you can give to our wonderful beginners here at WA.
Cheers,
Suzanne
Recent Comments
21
Thank you, Suzanne!
Unfortunately, I'm one of those 'perfectionists'. And yes, it's taking me FOREVER to complete my writing of 1 content. The truth is, it will never be perfect... arggg. I just like to punish myself I guess.
I'm going to have read this post several times.
Thanks,
Monica
Haha... oh no! You're very much like me!
It's hard to be a perfectionist, but as I've tried to let it go over the years, it does get easier.
Keep trying!! lol.
Cheers
Being a perfectionist must be tiring work. Nothing would ever be good enough, let alone perfect.
I agree with everything you wrote. Especially the idea that if you do not publish you will not be able to improve.
Alex
It is tiring, lol. But yes, if you never publish, you never learn, let alone build your business.
I have an excellent mentor who pounded this in me for each Youtube video I made, haha. And it's amazing how quickly you improve with practice.
Thanks for reading!!
Suzanne
Awesome, Suzanne! Perfection will never be achieved, so just let it roll and tweak it when you need to!
Jeff
You're right, lol. I've stopped being so fussy, and it's been great for my business.
Amazing where we waste so much time, haha!
Cheers
I'll bet that it has, Suzanne!
It is truly flabbercasting hwere we waste a lot of time, but it is also quite rewarding!
Jeff
I love this article through and through because you're absolutely right. However, I've always been had that 'perfectionist' attitude and eventually it has gotten me to where I am at, which in all honesty is a great place to be; many would give an appendage to be sitting in the position I am, but I'm striving for a better life for both myself and my family. My perfectionist attitude helped me slow down and look at all the details necessary to make me successful as a firefighter and a leader. The same mentality though is not serving me so well with trying to get my affiliate marketing business off the ground. This is where I've struggled and where your post really has hit home the most and made the most sense.
Truth be told, I am afraid of failure. Up until now I have remained reserved to new ideas or challenges that were difficult to comprehend but I want to change that. WA has given me the platform to do so with, but as I'm in my mid 30's I'm a little set in my ways and need some extra help and support. Reading through your post gave me some reinforcement that I'm not out here alone stressing over things that I want to be perfect but simply just need to give time to progress.
Ultimately I wanted to say thank you for not only acknowledging this issue but putting it out there as a blog for all to see, from experience, that you and the rest of us are not alone and we can still manage to be successful. Great job and I hope you are able to reach all the successes in life that you want to!
Awe... thanks so much Ryan, for your kind words.
That's where I want to help most, from my own experiences. I remember quite vividly how it was in the beginning, lol.
It can be tough to start something new when you have no skills in that area. And that's why it's important to be willing to "fail forward". We'll never learn if we don't make mistakes.
But we need to realize that we can't be perfect either, and to not quit when something fails. Unfortunately, too many beginners do quit and don't give themselves the chance.
The one thing I had to get in my head is that in the beginning we don't have any traffic anyway, so who are we trying to be perfect for, hahaha. Use that time to make mistakes because no one is watching anyway.
Cheers,
Suzanne
When you begin something new you always want it to be the best it can be. I myself used to delete delete delete. Then one day I realized I am a true beginner and it is absolutely okay to make mistakes.
You're so right!! That's all part of "failing forward". We learn by doing mistakes!
Thanks for commenting Kathie!
Cheers
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Thanks for writing on this topic, Suzanne.
Even I have faced this and currently coming out of it. This is really very helpful article.
You're so very welcome Sujith! And it's good to hear you've overcome being a perfectionist.
I think this will be a lifetime issue for me, haha!!
Cheers