Perfectionism
Have you ever delayed finishing something, or even starting something because you wanted it to be perfect?
Perfection can be defined as completeness, flawlessness or supreme excellence. Perfectionism can keep us stuck, but progress happens when we focus on completing things rather than making them flawless.
When I first created my Self-Care journal, I had someone else design the front cover for me, (at that time I had no idea how to do it myself.) I did not love it, and asked for a few variations, none of which made me feel any happier, but I decided to go with my favourite out of the bunch in order to move forward. Perfection could have kept me stuck for a while. Deciding to be done instead of waiting for perfection made me feel in control, and kept my project moving.
The problem with Perfectionism
Perfectionism leads us to procrastination, avoiding the task at hand and keeping us stuck. We strive for perfection usually through fear of judgement or failure. This can take an emotional toll, impacting both our mental and physical health.
The power of taking action
Done is better than perfect because done brings progress and progress builds confidence and momentum. Small simple steps can lead to big results.
When we learn to embrace good enough/done, we can focus on consistency over perfection and move forward. The idea is that finished allows for improvement. While unfinshed can leave us stuck.
What can we do to let go of Perfectionism?
- Break big tasks into smaller more manageable steps
- Remind yourself that no one notices imperfections as much as you do
- Set a time limit for a task and then move on
- Celebrate completion, not just perfection
- Use the 80% rule – if it’s 80% good, it’s good enough
Done is better than perfect, right? Took me a while to learn this lesson but I’m glad I eventually did. We can waste so much time striving for perfection because we think whatever we are working on, be it a song, a book, a piece of art, is just not good enough.
We can learn when to be done instead of waiting for things to be perfect. It is better to take imperfect action than no action at all.
What’s one thing you’ve been holding back on because you want it to be perfect? Go finish it today!