Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Perfection is not an option
Hi, my name is Mary and I am a recovering perfectionist. For years I have driven myself (and sometimes the people around me) crazy with my obsessive need to have everything "just right." I have convinced myself not to even start certain projects because I assumed that I could never do them perfectly, so why even bother to begin them? I have turned down opportunities that interested me because I feared that I would be crappy at them. I have tried to avoid doing anything that I wasn't completely sure that I'd be good at.
But NO MORE. I'm not saying that I am completely over my desire for perfection, but I am definitely in the recovery process. I work hard to remind myself every day that perfection does not exist. You can't get there. You just can't -- so why make yourself miserable about it?
What's wrong with good enough? A lot of times, good enough is just fine -- and it will often get you where you need to be much faster than perfect. I know it's scary, fellow perfectionists, but sometimes you have to just fling yourself into the deep end without knowing exactly how to swim.
Here's an example. Let's say you want to start a library blog. If you're a perfectionist, yoou might want to extensively plan and write down all the steps you need to do. Your plan might look something like this:
1. Sign up for accounts on all possible blogging platforms.
2. Do extensive training on the ins and outs of all these platforms. (Which platform is easiest to use? Which one is easiest to train people how to use? Should we pay for a blogging service or would free blogging software work for us?) Then choose the one that best meets our needs.
3. Spend months deciding things like what the content of the blog will be, who will get to contribute to it, and what the writing guidelines are going to be. (Who can contribute to the blog? How formal will the writing be? Will postings be moderated or unmoderated? Will we allow comments on blog entries, and will they be moderated or unmoderated?)
4. Spend months laboring over the perfect publicity materials to roll out this exciting new service.
5. Roll out the new service.
6. Realize that people have now moved on to podcasting and your blog, which would have been cool if you'd rolled it out 6 months ago, is now passe.
7. Console yourself that even though no one is reading your blog, it is, after all, a perfect example of a blog.
See what perfection gets you, people? Nothing but heartache and self-disillusionment. Don't go to that dark place. Come back into the light with me. Perfection is not possible. ¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 2:12 PM
But NO MORE. I'm not saying that I am completely over my desire for perfection, but I am definitely in the recovery process. I work hard to remind myself every day that perfection does not exist. You can't get there. You just can't -- so why make yourself miserable about it?
What's wrong with good enough? A lot of times, good enough is just fine -- and it will often get you where you need to be much faster than perfect. I know it's scary, fellow perfectionists, but sometimes you have to just fling yourself into the deep end without knowing exactly how to swim.
Here's an example. Let's say you want to start a library blog. If you're a perfectionist, yoou might want to extensively plan and write down all the steps you need to do. Your plan might look something like this:
1. Sign up for accounts on all possible blogging platforms.
2. Do extensive training on the ins and outs of all these platforms. (Which platform is easiest to use? Which one is easiest to train people how to use? Should we pay for a blogging service or would free blogging software work for us?) Then choose the one that best meets our needs.
3. Spend months deciding things like what the content of the blog will be, who will get to contribute to it, and what the writing guidelines are going to be. (Who can contribute to the blog? How formal will the writing be? Will postings be moderated or unmoderated? Will we allow comments on blog entries, and will they be moderated or unmoderated?)
4. Spend months laboring over the perfect publicity materials to roll out this exciting new service.
5. Roll out the new service.
6. Realize that people have now moved on to podcasting and your blog, which would have been cool if you'd rolled it out 6 months ago, is now passe.
7. Console yourself that even though no one is reading your blog, it is, after all, a perfect example of a blog.
See what perfection gets you, people? Nothing but heartache and self-disillusionment. Don't go to that dark place. Come back into the light with me. Perfection is not possible. ¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 2:12 PM
