Have you ever found yourself spending hours tweaking the slightest little thing, or weeks playing around with something that you could have gotten out in a day or two?
You're not alone...
We all want to put out our best work, and we want it to be great. But there comes a point where you have to decide your project, site or product is "ready" - and get it out there!
Waiting to launch until your project is "perfect" is a flawed approach. Mainly because perfection does not exist - only perception. Your version of perfect may be criticized by others, even. And perhaps it's that fear of criticism, or fear of failure, driving you to make something "perfect" before you release it...
Perfectionism is usually just a well-disguised form of procrastination. 😉
“At its root, perfectionism isn’t really about a deep love of being meticulous. It’s about fear. Fear of making a mistake. Fear of disappointing others. Fear of failure. Fear of success.”
― Michael Law
Dig deep inside yourself and analyze your "pefectionism" - does it relate to personal insecurity, not feeling confident about your expertise or skill or knowledge? Or are you truly striving to put out an excellent work?
There is no ONE "right way" to do anything. The concept of perfect is relative anyway, so there is no way to achieve it. Focus more on getting it done and putting it out there than fussing over the details, or tweaking it to death.
You really owe it to your market to put your content, products, services, etc out there. Waiting, or never getting around to it at all, is a disservice to your market. They want and need your content & products!
Also keep in mind that it's an expense, not an investment, if it's not published. Even if all you have invested is time, that time is a total waste if you never publish your work publicly. And as a good friend of mine says, "you'll never make a dime on ideas and uncompleted products."
Here's an interesting twist that will totally change your thoughts on perfection, and being a perfectionist...
The word "perfection" derives from the Latin "perfectio", and "perfect" — from "perfectus." These expressions in turn come from "perficio" — "to finish", "to bring to an end." "Perfectio(n)" thus literally means "a finishing", and "perfect(us)" — "finished".
..."excellentia" is a distinction among many, and implies comparison; while "perfectio" involves no comparison, and if something is deemed perfect, then it is deemed so in itself, without comparison to other things.
- Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfection
With that in mind, you are not truly a perfectionist unless you are putting out completed work, and actually finishing projects. 😉
Decide what you want to finish first, put everything else aside, and focus 100% on seeing it through. Remember, it's not "perfect" until it's done!
Best,
About Lynn Terry
"With that in mind, you are not truly a perfectionist unless you are putting out completed work, and actually finishing projects."
Lynn, that is an eye-opening statement for me. I am the queen of procrastination and perfectionism. But I am using the excitement I have about my new blog to combat those weaknesses.
Thanks for the timely post.
Shawn
AH! Lynn! Here I run into you again! I comment on a lot of your You Tube videos from my You Tube channel. I'm so excited to see you have a blog. I don't know why I didn't realize it before. It looks great. Luv this post. Going to share on Facebook. Luv ya tons!
Ok so I went a little overboard and posted it on Pinterest too. Do you have a Pinterest account? I would love to follow you.
It would be wrong to say that it is not a common problem, it indeed is one. I think this fear is there within all of us, we strive to overcome, now this effort is what matters. Not many can overcome their fears and go ahead with their work, very few people are blessed with the 'come what may' attitude. However it is not wise to hang on with anything you have worked on, you must go ahead and finish it, waiting for perfection will not yield anything.
This is a good point. I have 5 posts sitting in my drafts box, waiting for me to go back and "perfect" them! Now that I have a better idea of perfection maybe I will get them out.... maybe. 🙂
This phrase still in my mind: Perfectionism is usually just a well-disguised form of procrastination
I work all day to go to next level...i assume myself as perfeccionist 🙂
Wanting everything to be perfect is what prevents many people from getting started in the first place. The important thing is to get started, then you can improve things as you go along,a work in progress you might say.
Once again thanks for the great post.
Wanting perfection in anything we do is normal, but obsessing over perfection and wasting hours over minute changes should be avoided at all cost. I went through that phase while I was publishing my first blog. I remember spending hours editing my article over and over for no apparent reason. Looking back now I realize that I was not being a perfectionist, I was just afraid of rejection.
I believe perfection is unachievable, no matter how hard you try you will feel that something is wrong with your work. There was a time when I used to feel like that about everything, but then I realized where I was going wrong and I decided not to be too harsh on myself. Then onwards I have never tried to be perfect, I just give things my best and leave the rest.
You are absolutely correct Lynn. Deciding what to finish first and giving 100% on it- providing it should be done the way it was thought to be- is must to term yourself “Perfect”. Excellent post by you! I have always loved reading articles written by you. Keep up the good work!
I feel the word 'perfect' looks good in books only because when you try to achieve it in real life, things just don't seem to work out. The reason behind this is very simple, we all know of the phrase - 'beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder', the same goes for perfection. If you feel that your work is perfect then there is nothing to be done, its all about the feeling.
Hi
Thanks for this great post !
The wait for perfectionism is really not a good approach.The project should be carried on and the problems should be solved while working.
Thanks again
Regards
Perfectionism holds you back true but for a while, In the beginning it’s a time consuming thing but the outcome what we produce, definitely brings smile on our face. Gradually everything becomes perfect as we start learning new things & this perfectionism will give us the recognition in the market.
Hi Lynn, thanks a lot for sharing with us such a high value and inspiring post that’s especially encouraging for me since I’ve recently decided to bravely get up again like Rocky Balboa after my 7 year long painful and shocking struggles to start to make any money online.
Perfectionism has definitely been one of the main things that have been holding me back along with the information overload, procrastination as well as fears of the unknown, failures and also fear of success.
As for the perfectionism's stumbling block, what I've wasted years of my energy and time on has been finding and focusing on a perfect niche market. So, you know, I'd be spending hours and hours a day using diffrent keyword research and so called keyword clustering techniques in order to finally find that niche golden mine if I can express myself that way.
Lately I've luckily met an internet millionaire like you, Lynn who's actually helped me open my eyes and understand how easy internet marketing is. On top of it, I am glad to share with you that I have now also learned about how to adopt the right mindset of a super productive online entrepreneurs that will surely help me get rid off all my perfectionism.
It would be very interesting and helpful for me to learn here about other people’s failures, successes as well as dream visions as the result of their online success.
Please, feel free and welcome to visit my blog and post your comments there.
In advance thanks a lot with the depth of my heart.
Bruno Babic
Hi Lynn,
Great article! This is so recognizable... I can spend literally hours tweaking the smallest thing and in the end who is going to notice?
It's better to spend your precious hours in things that the reader will notice and appreciate.
It's a lesson which I'm still learning (lol!), but this article keeps me on the right track.
Thanks!
Chris
I was interested to read Bruno Babic's reply because I'm almost ashamed to admit that, like Bruno, I've been at this internet marketing thing for near on 10 years! I've been part of several expensive membership sites which ultimately lead me in no particular direction (they were obviously just interested in the monthly fees). I'm still at it though and work like a Trojan! There's no doubt I've made some bad choices with the products I've selected over the years. What doesn't help is raising twins with my wife, working the internet and my regular job! I very much like this post and especially Michael Brown's comments on the newbie-friendly way. You know when you read something that just clicks, followed by that heart-sinking feeling that you're slaving away in the wrong direction? I'm feeling that right now since I discovered this blog today. I'll have to take stock of my present circumstances and commitments but I'm working very hard to set an affiliate system up via social media, and can't help thinking my chances of success will be much greater with your program, support network and years of success. Any comments, and advice would be very much appreciated and welcome. Excellent stuff!
Perfectionism has been a HUGE part of my life/upbringing, and I've often been entirely frustrated and/or paralyzed because I could never live up to it (not for lack of trying)! It never dawned on me that it's about DOING and FINISHING. (This applies to so many aspects of life, not just business.) Very freeing! There's no better feeling than completing or accomplishing. This seems to be a theme in my life right now that I'm being directed to improve upon. Here's to attitude change and ACTION! Thanks again for the inspiration! 😀