Are you a perfectionist? Does everything need to be ‘just right’ at all times and if it isn’t, you go into a tailspin, kicking yourself in the rear way too long? Does this sound familiar? Where did you get this trait from? Does it get in the way of you moving forward on other things because you’re so consumed with the project at hand?
I’ve always been a person that has believed if you’re going to do things, get them done right the first time versus doing a mediocre job. I think that in order to stand out from the crowd, you definitely need to go from being ordinary to being extraordinary. But things can get out of hand and overboard to think that you can actually make things perfect. It just isn’t reality and when you have in your mind that you have to be perfect and things don’t go the way you want, you end up over-analyzing the situation, trying to figure out how things could have gone wrong when you thought they were so right.
I think most of us know that ‘nothing’ is perfect. So knowing that and understanding that, why do we get caught up in it at times? We need to check ourselves from time-to-time and remind ourselves that we all are flawed; ‘noone is perfect’!
So a few thoughts of mine to get out of the perfectionist mode and instead strive for excellence!
4 Tips to Move from Being a Perfectionist to Simply Striving for Excellence!
- Set Boundaries on Your Actions – When doing a project, make sure you put enough time in to make your project shine, but don’t let the project interfere with the rest of your life. Set a timeline on how long you will work on something. Then give it a rest, put it down for a while.
- Talk to other Successful People – Get to know other people that have done well in their line of work; who have played the bigger game. Get to know their story. I guarantee that most will say that they’ve made mistakes along the way and they ended up okay. By learning that really successful people are not perfect in every way, may help you not put unrealistic expectations on yourself.
- Accept and Embrace Mistakes – When you make a mistake, embrace it versus making a big deal of it. It’s going to be hard at first, but remind yourself that noone is perfect, accept the mistake, find a lesson out of it all, then just improve on how you do things in the future.
- Have a Back-Up Plan – Having a back-up plan is always a healthy way to go about going for your goals. When you do that, if things don’t quite go your way for Plan A, you’ve got a great back-up plan to put into play.
So if you’re a perfectionist, start by cutting yourself some slack today. Noone is perfect! Don’t be so critical of yourself and have some fun on the journey! Embrace all the twists and turns in life and believe that things in the end will go your way.
Are you a perfectionist? On what types of things? Or what do you do to not be so critical of yourself when you make mistakes along the way in life? I want to hear from you!
Contact Cynthia today for programs that will assist you in getting you where you want to be in life! She will give you all the tools you need to go for it and really live! [email protected] | https://cynthiabazin.com/services
You make many great points Cynthia! One of greatest barriers to productivity and advancement would have to be perfectionism. As someone who is basically a perfectionist I can certainly attest to that! While there is nothing wrong with putting forth your best effort and striving for excellence, perfectionism can actually get in the way of achievement. When we become so consumed with trying to make everything perfect it can so easy to simply not attempt anything new because of the fear of failure. I deal with this problem on a daily basis with regards to my business. Because I don’t have them mastered to perfection, I find it nearly impossible to make use of the skills I need to made my business grow. It can be a very frustrating thing! Another thing to remember is that mistakes are how we grow and learn! Without mistakes, how can we ever get better than we are today? It’s really very ironic…by not achieving perfection we begin to learn the lessons to draw us closer perfection! All in all, the best advice one can give a perfectionist is, just stop worrying about being perfect and go DO it anyway!!
Great comments Michelle! Very well said!
I would say I’m a perfectionist with a few things, the important stuff like work especially. But like you said, you can’t let mistakes get you down. You need to learn from them and become experienced and wiser from them.
-Amir
Thank you so much for your comments Amir! It’s always so fantastic to get your perspective. Thank you!!
Awesome points. I’m a perfectionist in some areas of my life. The saying “Get out of your own way” seems very appropriate! Great blog as always!
Thanks Terri for your comments! I appreciate you my friend!
Just seen this on Twitter Cynthia, and noticed that its from November. How did I miss this?
Great post RockChic!
The 4 points are great. Your plan A message is on the button too. As I have always said…
If plan A fails…there are 25 other letters of the alphabet!
Dave x
Thanks David for your comments…. You are always full of wisdom! I appreciate you my friend!