Are You Waiting to Be Perfect?

What is holding you back?

Why are you putting it off?

Are you scared of success?

Are you worried you will fail?

Fear of failure is highly correlated with perfectionism. Ironic because perfectionism is usually  characterized by an intense drive to succeed!  Procrastination can be the bane of a home life, work life, school life – you name it; and the quest to do it perfectly is often the reason holding you back.

Everyone is terrified of failure, looking foolish, and letting others down. It is a universal condition that we will all fail at some time. Get over it! 

Here are some tips to help you spin out of your inertia: 

1. Do something.  Take a baby step: come up with your blog headline, gather the containers for the basement clean out, pile up the bills in one place, etc. Just get started and focus on the fact that you actually took an action. Then take another small baby step: look for the image for your blog post, start sorting just the baby clothes in the basement, gather the checkbook or computer for bill paying.  Focus on that. You will find one small step leads to another and progress begins.

2. Step back and keep it in perspective.   Will it matter next week, next month, next year? If not (and probably not), then keep moving forward and leave yourself room for success and accomplishment, don’t just focus on how long it took you to get going .

3. Examine your goal setting.   Do you set yourself up for failure or procrastination by setting overwhelming goals? Of course large goals are fabulous, smaller goals break down those big scary goals to make them manageable and achievable.

4. Facebook is not your friend! Facebook is great for catching up with old high school friends and seeing vacation photos, but social media has become an easy way to compare yourself to everyone around you. Kids on Dean’s list – check, home cooked, organic meal – check, ran 5.6 miles today – check. Give me (and yourself a break!) No one posts the bad stuff (well, yes, they do and that is a whole ‘nother blog…) I always tell my kids that in this world, there is always going to be someone taller, smarter, skinnier, blonder, richer, etc. Move on! And be happy with yourself!

5 Do a gut check.  Daily ask yourself: Are you waiting to be perfect? Learn to recognize when your inertia is due to the perfection quest and just get going.  be the best you can be in that moment –  You will often find it is pretty excellent!

Our philosophy is to be excellent in both career and life.  addONE Marketing Solutions delivers experienced, marketing staffing solutions to fit any size project or budget.  Filling marketing staffing gaps or providing outsourced marketing departments makes us “the smartest addition you will ever make.” Atlanta-based and woman owned since 1998. Visit add1marketing.com for more information