I’m coming to you with a PSA:
Perfection is unattainable. Stop trying so hard.
If I had a dollar for every client or colleague who has said “I’m a perfectionist.” I would be a VERY wealthy woman today.
To say, “I’m a perfectionist,” implies that we want to get things done flawlessly. While producing high caliber work, whether it’s for a job or a hobby, is a noble pursuit, it can be like trying to bathe a cat → hard to achieve!
Somehow, society has groomed most of us to think that there is value and worth in perfection. And that anything less will somehow relegate us to a place of eternal damnation with no friends or chocolate ice cream. (I’ve got ice cream on the brain…)
The reality is that in the human realm, perfection is a myth.
In his commencement address at Dartmouth College, tennis legend Roger Federer said, “Perfection is impossible.” He then continues to break down his tennis stats to illustrate the example and says, “… even top ranked tennis players win barely half the points they play.”
In business, it’s hard to imagine being successful on barely half of the projects or tasks we work on. And it’s also difficult to fathom the stress, hours, mental energy, and everything else that goes into trying to be “perfect.”
So what if instead of trying to be perfect, you simply aimed to be better than you are today? Maybe even just 1% better? I know, 1% sounds so minuscule it would be easy to think it’s not worth aiming for. The compound effect over time however, is actually quite significant.
Not sure about you, but if I am going to invest the time and energy to improve myself, I’m more inclined to go for small gains because I have seen first hand for both myself and clients, how they add up over time and yield big results. That sounds more productive than going after perfection, which we now know, is unattainable.
You can see the clip of Roger talking about perfection here. (1:12 minute clip)
Now go out there and be imperfectly human and imperfectly you!