Good Enough vs Perfectionism?
How many times have you abandoned a work-in-progress project, because you think it is not good enough…yet?
How many email drafts sit in your mailbox after endless polishing and still never get sent?
When was the last time you took a selfie ONCE and post it on Instagram immediately without editing?
Now before you start beating yourself up again and consider yourself as lazy, lack of discipline, ADD or narcissistic – maybe there is a deeper reason for this.
As growth-oriented as we are, we always want to become better, greater, and more high-achieving.
Yet, when your good taste disappoints you, you feel bad about your creation.
This tendency is called the Aspiration Gap – the gap between your good taste (what the work you WANT to create) and the work you are CAPABLE of creating at this moment.
Having this aspiration gap prompts us to keep throwing away our drafts to start all over, or never feel comfortable in clicking the PUBLISH button.
Now imagine if you live on a one-human island, would you even care?!
Therefore, the underlying tendency of Perfectionism is – when we are overly concerned with what other people will think of us, we try to make sure anything we do is presentable enough for the judgmental public. In short, that’s the fear of judgement.
I guess no one can say they can be totally immune to the fear of being judged – but it’s important to recognise how Perfectionism is hurting us!
1. Perfectionism ≠ Self-Improvement
Your intention in your actions is everything. When you are striving from a place to avoid shame, to escape from feelings of unworthiness, or you are trying to gain the recognition from someone you look up to, then the super-high standards you set for yourself are rooted in lack and self-loathing.
YOU ARE NOT YOUR BEHAVIOUR. Your work performance doesn’t define how valuable you are as a human being.
Plus, to become the Best Version of Yourself is not a “destination” you can arrive.
WE ARE ALWAYS A WORK-IN-PROGRESS. Healthy striving has to come from a place of accepting who you are today, and regardless of how unready you feel you are, you choose to SHOW UP ANYWAY.
2. Perfectionism Is A Delay Mechanism
This one is straightforward when you see how many time you’ve invested in the draft mode 🙂
When we allow this tendency to paralyse our actions, we can get very little done yet feel extremely exhausted.
3. Perfectionism Kills Creativity
Because to create something unconventional, you’ll have to take risks. And taking risks involves making mistakes. Sometimes it is translated as “failures”.
As an NLP coach, one of the key beliefs in NLP is – There is no failure, only feedback.
That’s why I’m an advocate of taking Career Experiments – a low-cost, low-risk way to test drive your next career idea before you go all in.
Therefore in October, I cordially invite you to apply a 70% Good Enough benchmark (NOT 70% completion lol) in your projects and observe:
- How does that make you feel?
- What are the feedbacks you are getting? Do people notice?
- Where did you get your standards of perfection anyway? Are you using an Inch ruler to measure centimeters??
- How’s your productivity level when compared to previous months?
- Do you feel any difference while in your creative processes?
Have fun experimenting with it, and I’m curious to know what you’ve discovered 🙂
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UPCOMING WEBINAR (FREE)!
If you are sick of wearing masks to work, this is for you 🙂 No registration is required. Just attend the Facebook Live on my Facebook Page on 11th Oct(Thu). Bookmark below:
How to Bring Your Whole Self To Work
