Perfection is NOT Your Friend!

Perfection is not your friend. It took me a long time to discover this. For years, I've put off things waiting for the perfect circumstances. The perfect moment. I was able to convince myself that there would be some magical time when everything would be just right, and when that time came, I would do the thing that I needed to do. The thing I should be doing today wasn't ready yet. You know what else? Tomorrow and Perfection are besties. They hang out all the time. Sometimes, we think things will be perfect tomorrow and so, we wait. 

I've put off sending letters because, all of a sudden, I decided that I should add something else. Some other magical piece of marketing material. Something that I didn't have yet. Something that was now so important to include that I had to delay the task until I had it. 

For me, everything had to be perfect in order for me to proceed. In this new year, Im letting that go. More on that here. 

Then, one day, while listening to one of my favorite podcasts, the truth hit me like a ton of bricks. 

That truth is: Perfection is a 'delay mechanism'. It's procrastination in a better suit. We are able to fool ourselves into thinking that the reason we put off tasks is because we want our work to be perfect when, the truth is, we put things off because we are afraid, unsure, or just plain ole procrastinating. That's it. Needing to have everything figured out is NOT a prerequisite for success. It is an excuse to keep doing what you're doing. Me not sending the mailing that should have gone out last month has NOTHING to do with adding additional marketing material and everything to do with me being nervous about sending it. And THAT is the hashtag truth :)

Contrary to what our egos tell us, nobody is perfect. Not you. Not me. So let's stop trying to be perfect. Work your butt off? Yes! Do your absolute best EVERY time!? Heck yeah! Wait for the perfect time before you start!? Nah.

Give it all that you've got and then be done. Let's get out of our way waiting for things to be perfect because, we'll be waiting forever. 

You must do the thing you think you cannot do. And you must do it…TODAY.