Ditching Perfectionism for Progress
If that heading makes you cringe with discomfort, read on! The perfectionist in you is real and it’s holding you back from business success!
I know you’ve felt that need for everything to be done perfectly, while at the same time feel the guilt of not actually getting stuff done, you’re not alone. Let me take you on a little journey through my life and how I discovered the magic of imperfect action.
My Early Days: The Procrastinator's Playground
Picture this: a young girl living in a world of organised chaos. My room often looked like a tornado had hit it, but I knew exactly where every toy was hiding in the mess. Each pile had its purpose, even if it seemed like complete disarray to anyone else, especially my Mum, who was always telling me to clean it up! I wanted to be tidier and more organised, but there was a catch. I couldn’t move on to the next task until the first one was completed. Plus, in the process of cleaning up I found things to look at and play with, which took me further away from the perfect tidy up, so it was eventually abandoned in a worse state than when I started.
Have you been there? Stuck and frustrated! I was stuck and my Mum was frustrated! That relentless pursuit of perfection turned into a comfortable yet paralysing cycle.
The Turning Point: Done is better than perfect!
The first time I heard the phrase “done is better than perfect,” the shackles came off. It was almost like a permission statement. It takes me back to the twen-teens when I published my first e book, Tame Your To-Do-List in 5 Easy Steps. I had edited and re-edited the chapters and still wasn't content, I had research how I could create it and deliver it to my clients, but the options were paralysing. So, with my new mantra of "done is better than perfect" in my mind, I used the tools I already had and knew how to use.
I created it in PowerPoint and saved it as a PDF, I sold it on my website using PayPal and delivered it as an email attachment. It wasn’t high-tech by any means, but it was done! That little e book became a powerful tool for connecting with people, and guess what? I booked clients from it, even though it wasn’t perfect.
Fast forward to today, and I still use an evolved version of that system myself as well as in my Tame Your To-Do-List 1:1 sessions, helping my clients build moment and focus on the imperfect actions that will bring them progress. The experience taught me that progress matters more than perfection. I realised I much preferred authenticity over flawless execution and so did my clients.
Is Perfectionism Holding You Back?
If you can’t seem to finish a task or even get started, you maybe stuck in the perfectionism-procrastination loop, here are some signs that it might be holding your business back:
- Analysis Paralysis: You know this one! You’re so busy analysing every detail that you never make an actual decision.
- Fear of Failure: You’d rather not try than risk not being perfect. It’s the safe bet, if you never put yourself out there you can’t fail.
- Over-planning: You spend more time planning than executing. I call this procrasti-planning, you don’t have the right format or font or colours on your planning document or suddenly the ironing is more enticing and must be done as part of the pre-planning process!
Embrace the Journey
As I reflect on my journey from perfectionism to progress, I now have an anchor that keeps me on track in business and in life. It’s my big picture goal. It is the overarching vision that draws me forwards. It brought me successfully through the pandemic in a hospitality business in a foreign country! Sure, I still have moments of doubt, I even have the occasional procrastination spiral, but I use my big picture goal to reel me back in. When these moments strike, I am now safe in the knowledge that if I can just take one step, one imperfect step closer to my big picture goal, the pendulum starts to swing and momentum builds.
What imperfect step will you take today?
If you’re ready to break free from the chains of perfectionism and procrastination, book a Tame Your To-Do-List session and together we’ll kick your priorities into gear and move your business forward one perfectly imperfect step at a time!
