Not long before I started Dream Nation life forced me to learn a lesson that changed my life:
“Done, is better than perfect.” Growing up my Dad instilled in me high standards, both in the way I regard myself and my approach to work. I know this sounds great, but like all things when taken to the extreme it becomes harmful. Through no fault of his own, I started holding myself to impossible-to-reach standards and I suffered for it.
Over time I realised the hours that I was putting into making something perfect was just another form of procrastination. I was wasting my own time, and we all know time is our most valuable asset as we can never get it back. My todo list was over 1,000 items because trying to complete each task perfectly was taking hours. Which of cause also used up so much emotional and mental effort. The truth was, I would never be happy with the result. In fact, what probably hurt the most was that all that extra effort rarely paid off.
Being a perfectionist sets you up to fail before you start because perfection is a standard which cannot be reached.
How to let go of your perfection guilt
When we really dig deep, we often find that our motivation behind our perfectionism comes from negative places such as fear, pride or a feeling of not being good enough. Instead, try to be driven by passion, love what you do and see it as another form of self-expression. Seeing our work as self-expression is powerful because just like us, our work doesn’t have to be perfect for people to love it.
To give you some really practical advice, give yourself a few rules and guidelines to follow. For example, one of my rules is that if a task can be done 80% as well by someone else, then they should do it instead of me. I’m often surprised when giving others this type of freedom, they produce work far better than what I would have. Another rule I use is allowing my perfectionism to be fed in rare cases. For example, I’ll be a perfectionist about the design of certain pages on the Dream Nation website, but then be really relaxed about pretty much everything else.
Dropping perfectionism has honestly changed my life for the better. I’m happier, I’m far more productive and I have way more time on my hands. I really encourage you to do the same.
