Is perfectionism your biggest business blind spot?

I’m tackling another topic that probably hits home for quite a few of us, and that’s perfectionism.

Last week I spoke about imposter syndrome or imposter phenomenon, which is a related concept. 

In fact, some people would say that perfectionism is a characteristic of imposter syndrome. As in, perfectionism is like a false antidote for imposter syndrome. Trying to be perfect, so I don’t feel like an imposter.

Now, you might be thinking, well, isn’t it a good thing to be a perfectionist?

Well, not necessarily, because perfectionism is different from being conscientious. So conscientious is about being hardworking or diligent, whereas perfectionism is about setting unrealistically high standards for yourself and also others. But then also being overly critical when those standards aren’t met. 

It’s about feeling never satisfied with your work or always thinking that you could have done better. And then also about tying yourself worth to those achievements.

But where does it come from? Well, as you’ll probably hear me say over and over and over again when I speak about mindset stuff, a lot of the time like this can come from our early childhood experiences.

Potentially maybe you had teachers or caregivers who only praised you when you got top marks and maybe fast forward to now where you’re still trying to earn that gold star in everything you do. The problem with that relentless pursuit of perfectionism is that can lead to a bunch of other issues.

Generally, if something’s not causing a problem, then it’s not a problem, but in terms of perfectionism, when it is a problem, it may lead to anxiety, low mood, burnout is a big one, or it can just make you procrastinate and avoid tasks altogether for the fear of not being able to do them perfectly, which, you know, ironically can then hinder people’s performance and productivity. 

I heard this really cool quote recently which is being perfectionistic doesn’t make you perfect, it makes you paralysed, which I think is so, so true. And a lot of the time, perfectionism can be a mask for deeper feelings of not feeling good enough.

It’s a way of protecting ourselves from that, from failure or criticism. 

So we think if I’m perfect, no one can find fault with me. Whereas in reality, in our pursuit to do everything flawlessly, we end up not doing anything at all. 

But here’s the thing, done is better than perfect. But how might perfectionism be showing up in your life?

Well, maybe you’re hesitant to hit publish on a new blog post because you think it needs to be Pulitzer-worthy, or perhaps you’re thinking of starting a podcast, but you’re convinced that you can’t do it until you have the perfect audio set up. 

Which, yeah, that is a personal example that I can tell you that my perfectionism is for sure flared up launching this podcast as my assistant will confirm, but it’s taken me a little while to realise that. 

My perfectionism for sure showed up in terms of speaking, cause I’m a writer, not a speaker. 

I struggle with speaking, but it’s taken me a little while to realise that how I speak, which is like full of uhhs and I guess’s and likes and’s and you knows, that’s how I speak. And that’s my characteristics and my little quirks. And potentially if people have a big problem, well that might be just a reflection of their own shit, and not to do with me. 

But how do we break free of this perfectionistic trap? Because it is a bit of a trap. As always, self-awareness and recognising perfectionist tendencies.

So, do you catch yourself comparing yourself to others, or do you struggle with delegating tasks because no one else but you can do it right? And there might be signs that your perfectionism is holding you back because what is it costing you? I think is a good thing to ask.

So maybe, could you ask yourself, what would happen if I aim for good enough instead of perfect?

And maybe embrace mistakes if you do make a mistake or if something doesn’t go as planned. It’s okay because a lot of the time a lot of good can come out of failure and it’s just data, right? 

As always, be self-compassionate and talk to yourself like you were a friend. I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t berate your work bestie for not being perfect. It’s outrageous. 

And also celebrating your wins, and setting realistic goals.

It’s like me. I often have a goal, which I say, I want to record five episodes in a day, but that’s not, that’s not accurate. It’s not right.

So once again, healers, here’s your permission to slip, to make mistakes, to learn and to improve as you go, you know? And you’re allowed to fuck up, it’s okay.

Because that real growth happens in that messy, imperfect reality of actually doing the work.