Do It Now or Do It Later?
Maybe you deal with this or know someone who does.
Perfectionism - a disposition to regard anything short of perfection as unacceptable
It can be a straitjacket – preventing us from completion, moving forward, putting our work out in the world.
It doesn’t feel good – in fact, mostly perfectionists feel shame.
And, because they hesitate to release their work, the world doesn’t benefit from their contributions, their ideas, their genius.
In The Perfection Trap, Thomas Curran identifies three types of perfectionism:
Self-Oriented – you hold yourself to impossible standards of perfection
Socially Prescribed – you believe others hold you to impossible standards of perfection
Other-Oriented – you believe others should live up to impossible standards of perfection
These feelings of perfectionism have been increasing, and Curran shares some shocking statistics about the rise in feelings of perfectionism in youth. The increased rise of social media use correlates directly with increased feelings of imperfection. No surprise here, I’m sure.
In addition to limiting our social media use 😊 there are ways in which we can overcome our drive for perfection.
A coaching client recently shared that she was holding on to a document that she had drafted – a document that would help many of her colleagues in their day-to-day work – because she knew it was not complete. She mentioned that she had provided a draft of the document to a colleague a while back. I asked – did your colleague identify any issues with your guidance in the document? My client responded – no, he’s been using it, no issues, said it's great.
We discussed –
There will be additions or changes you may want to make to your document. Could you plan for a version 2.0? What is the risk of releasing version 1.0 now?
What value and benefit of your work are you withholding? How could your colleagues benefit from your guidance in the document?
Where in your life and work can you make some small steps toward a goal? It may not be your ideal version, but perhaps it gets you 80% there.
Think about “small tests of change” you can make. What can you change or move forward that would be low risk?
My client was motivated to make changes and took the initiative to do so.
When we next met, she told me that she did indeed release her report. She received gratitude from colleagues to say that were so appreciative for this guidance.
At home, she finally installed an outdoor lamp that she purchased months ago. She had grand visions for adding some features, but said “I can always go back and add the embellishments later. It’s 80% great.”
How did she feel? Liberated! Of course, it was scary to let something out in the world that was not what she considered done, so it took courage to take this step.
I have the incredible privilege of working with individuals who are seeking to make changes in their lives and work. Let's discuss how coaching can transform you and your future path.
