Are you a Perfectionist?

I responded to a question online recently where the poster asked Are you a perfectionist? And if so how was this impacting your business goals?

And it got me thinking, as once upon a time I was that Perfectionist. I believed that to be the very best I could be, to appear as professional as possible I had to disappear down a rabbit hole of finite details as that was what was going to set me apart from my co-workers (when I was employed) and competitors now I have my own business.

But not any more, here is how I replied.

“Nothing stays the same forever.

What was perfect yesterday can be imperfect today. Things always change and evolve, which is particularly true in business.
So you can either hold back because you are never happy ‘it’ is right, or get it out there starting to deliver results that you can then amend as you need.

I was guilty of seeking perfection then I had my daughter. Kids grow way too quick for anything to stay the same for more than a few weeks which taught me a lot about perfectionism.

Now I collect bad mother badges seemingly daily 😆 but my kid is ok.”

I have learnt that what is more important is to deliver the desired outcome, to complete a piece of work, to deliver on goals. This isn’t to say I cut corners or produce shoddy work, I still have standards, but now I can spot the signs that the rabbit hole is starting to appear in front of me and I can take action to control my inner perfectionist. Lets be honest, there just isn’t enough time in the day to satisfy this person.

So here are my perfectionist triggers, have a read and see if any of these resonate.

Writing, rewriting and rewriting emails – this can devour hours of time. Instead create some templates that you can quickly refer to and use.
Be aware of time – set yourself a timer to only spend XX minutes on a task.
Its ok to make mistakes – if the mistakes are regular i.e. spelling or grammar then tap into spelling and editing tools. If its part of a process you always forget – make the process clearer, create an actionable tick list, these can be either written or digital.
Don’t fixate on what is wrong – instead look at what is right and assess if that delivering the desired outcome, if the answer is yes then happy days.
Take a close look at your goals – are they achievable or do they need breaking down? Nothing worse than thinking you don’t achieve anything, but if the goals are too big just now then break them down into smaller steps. You wouldn’t climb the stairs today then expect to climb Mt Everest tomorrow, that takes time and preparation. Create small steps and enjoy the satisfaction when ticking them off.
Don’t link letting things go makes you a failure. Just because you didn’t go down the rabbit hole doesn’t mean you won’t achieved your goal. The same also applies to delegating, it doesn’t all have to be done by you but we will talk about that another day.
Be kind to yourself.
Left unchecked perfectionism can lead to procrastination,your days are full but you are not moving forward and that is a whole other blog, but the good news is that studies show perfectionism actually decreases with age, which as living proof I totally agree with. We just get older, wiser, and focus on getting the job done. https://bit.ly/46bGUNP

So focus on the positive, there are some things that get better with age (just tell that to my bones lol).

Any thoughts or experiences please drop me a message, I’d love to hear them, and together lets ignore those rabbit holes.

Speak again soon

Sheona x