Am I the only one that finds it hard to admit I’m a perfectionist? I’ll admit to being confident, attentive to detail and creative. I’ll tell anyone I like to take risks. Heck, if you’ve followed along long enough you know that I’m not afraid to try something new or throw one of my new ideas out at all of you to see what you think. 70% done is the new 110% done in my mind.
But, when I really look at it, I am a perfectionist. Well, maybe a recovering perfectionist. Ever since I stopped getting those shiny “A”s on all my work, I’ve learned to let go, little by little, of my fear of not getting that perfect score. But I still have room to grow.
This week I received a newsletter email from Jasmine Star, a business strategist, who wrote an entire email literally directed right to my heart (I could only be so lucky to have someone like Jasmine do this but it was really just good content marketing!). She presented the three questions to know if you are battling against perfectionism:
If you’re waiting to make it perfect, you’re actually procrastinating.
If you’re waiting until you’re confident, you’re actually afraid of being judged.
If you’re waiting until you’re smart enough, you’re actually afraid of being wrong.
Check. Check. Check. Though she only calls out perfectionism in the first question, I could feel how perfectionism showed up in all of them. I could see how I become paralyzed and refuse to act if I don’t feel 100% confident in what I’m doing. The fear comes from being judged but the lack of action comes from perfectionism. I can also see how I’ll be slow to speak up in a meeting or share something on social media because I’m not sure if I will sound smart. Yes, the fear is of being wrong, but the bigger issue is getting it wrong/saying it imperfectly/failing to get my message across like it was professionally edited.
Here’s a few more questions to keep your wheels turning and wrap up this post:
What are you waiting for?
What are you actually doing?
What’s one simple way to take action today to overcome this wait/fear/perfection paralysis cycle?
In honor of a trip earlier this month to Texas, I love ya’ll.