When someone I know is stressing a mistake they've recently made, I love to break the tension by saying in a very serious tone: Well, in the wise words of Hannah Montana, “everybody makes mistakes. Everybody has those days. Nobody’s perfect. You live and you learn it.”
The idea there is obvious. No one is perfect, not even you. Accept your imperfection and move on. Simple enough. Okay, so what if instead of just accepting it that we actually embraced it? Before you burn me at the stake for even suggesting such a heinous idea, hear me out.
The idea there is obvious. No one is perfect, not even you. Accept your imperfection and move on. Simple enough. Okay, so what if instead of just accepting it that we actually embraced it? Before you burn me at the stake for even suggesting such a heinous idea, hear me out.
Fear of imperfection can cause you to give up on something before you even begin.
Requiring a perfect plan to complete a task might prevent you from starting it at all. I’m not saying there is no merit to planning something carefully before attempting its execution. I am saying that you should get a plan in place and get started. Worrying about creating a perfect plan is likely to set you up for failure right at the start. And, even if you do come up with a “perfect plan“, worrying that you can’t execute the plan perfectly (which you can’t) will probably stop you from moving from the planning stage to the actual doing stage.
Going big or going home aren’t really the only two options.
Big success can come in small increments. It might even have to. Remember that fad challenge from a few years ago - "Couch to 5K"? How many of us bought into it the idea that you could get from couch potato status to star athlete in just a few weeks was possible if we just quit our shit and exercise like a maniac for a few weeks? How many of us made it to the end and ran that glorious 5K? What if your goal was much simpler and therefore possibly even attainable? What about "Couch to 15 minutes of sunshine a day" or "to actually folding that five piles of fucking laundry that’s been waiting on you for a few weeks?" Some of us have farther to go than others.
Perfect is the enemy of good.
It can also be the enemy of finished. Imagine you are working on a big project at work that several colleagues are depending on you to deliver well done and on time. What if every time you became unhappy with where the project was going you just scrapped it and started over? Your boss isn’t going to be impressed with all of your “hard work” when they check in on you for a status update and all you have to show is a trash bin full of crumpled papers (I realize this could be an outdated reference today, but humor me). Even worse - what if you can’t bear to put your pencil down when the time is called because it still just needs a few finishing touches? Your team won’t appreciate all the effort you put in before now that you've left them standing there waiting on you, just looking like a bunch of assholes.
There’s a fine line between holding yourself to a standard of excellence and perfectionism. I believe that a key difference between the two is the ability to forgive yourself when you fall short of the standard you set, something perfectionists struggle with. Next time you set your eye on a goal or even a simple task, don't go for gold. Accept that perfect isn't a generally achievable standard and aim for good. Hell - maybe just go for "good enough". The results may surprise you.
There’s a fine line between holding yourself to a standard of excellence and perfectionism. I believe that a key difference between the two is the ability to forgive yourself when you fall short of the standard you set, something perfectionists struggle with. Next time you set your eye on a goal or even a simple task, don't go for gold. Accept that perfect isn't a generally achievable standard and aim for good. Hell - maybe just go for "good enough". The results may surprise you.