Consistency over Perfection.
For as long as I can remember, I have had an overwhelming sense of self pressure to get things *just right* or to not bother at all. It’s the reason that I can do 5 out of the 6 things in my morning routine and still feel like I’m failing at being a human being. It’s an all or nothing kind of approach to life.
Being a perfectionist is not a bad thing. In fact, if you resonate with this trait I can guarantee that you are capable of moving mountains, and I imagine you’ve done exactly that already. It’s a sign that your work ethic is strong and you hold high standards for yourself. But, perfectionism is a double edged sword. At times, our personal standards can be so high that they are unreachable on a consistent basis. When we inevitably miss the mark, it's really easy to feel like we are failing, rather than questioning the conditions to win.
Functioning perfectionism is not only possible, but can be your superpower in your respective field. There is nothing wrong with wanting to achieve a high quality. The only issue is when our inability to produce that quality means we do nothing at all. If things have to be perfect, you’ll end up missing the journey of progress. It is in the repetition of something that we improve and grow.
If you feel like something has to be perfect to share it with the world or to feel good about yourself, you may never share your god given gift. When I first started sharing my writing, it was in no way what it has evolved into today. But without starting where I was -- I would have never reached where I am now. Let yourself be inspired by the journey, by the progress you make daily. It’s less about perfection and more about the progress you are making.
A powerful shift is to allow ourselves to feel good about what we’ve done simply because we’ve completed it, instead of measuring it against our highest standards.
We have one of two choices:
Feel good about something because we completed it, knowing with each action we improve. Focusing on what we’ve done well, more than what's missing.
Only feel good when we meet unsustainably high standards. It’s not worth it unless it's perfect.
Perfectionism will rob you of learning and attaining the skills necessary to naturally meet your high standards. Instead of imposing them prematurely, we reach them through consistent repetitive action. It's sort of like starting to work out and expecting our body to transform over night. It would be demotivating to focus on the distance between where we are and where we want to be. What if instead, we focused on the daily action of moving our bodies and celebrating each workout? Would that not be a more enjoyable experience of reaching our goal?
Your perfectionism is a gift. It’s a recognition of your potential and what you are capable of. But surrender the pressure to give 150% all the time. Sometimes you only have 20% -- and that's ok. Day by day it will add up. As you learn to make friends with your perfectionism, be kind to yourself. When you hear its voice rise saying that “it's not good enough” check in with yourself to see if you did your best with what you have today. If yes -- acknowledge your progress. If not -- call on yourself to show up wherever you are at.
Progress is more important than perfection.
You will reach your standards through the repetition of daily action more than extraordinary bursts of effort.
The magic is, when we acknowledge the progress we’ve made, we give ourselves added momentum to continue walking the path. Ultimately, nothing will ever be *perfect* to everyone’s standards -- It just has to be good enough for you. It’s much more important to consistently complete tasks than it is to do one perfectly. You will continue to move mountains in your life, but this way you’ll have a much more enjoyable experience of doing so.