Perfectionism, how its inhibiting your success and costing you money

Ive often heard entrepreneurs describing themselves as perfectionists. Wearing the label like a badge of honour, believing that it represents the fact that they always put in 100% and strive for the very best at all times. But we all know nothing can be totally 100% all the time, and no one person is perfect. Thank goodness, what a boring world we would live in if this was the case. But apart from the unrealistic high standards this places on the perfectionist it is also a huge barrier to getting “the thing” you need to publish, launch, sell or market finished.

Perfectionism is just another form of procrastination. Fiddling with the font colour on your website rather than typing up the relevant content, or editing and over editing the copy until the enthusiasm to actually post it has entirely gone, is a great waste of time and energy. Sometimes we just have to get the bones of the task done and get it out there, warts and all.

A lot of perfectionistic tendencies are rooted in fear and insecurity. Many perfectionists worry that if they let go of their?conscientiousness and meticulousness, it will hurt their performance and standing. This is a story that doesn’t serve you,?a limiting belief to stop you?actually showing up in your business.

Perhaps you feel your product will be so popular that you won’t be able to cope with the success. Or the opposite, no one will even notice you or your podcast and that niggling thought that what you’re doing is a waste of time will be confirmed. So by not taking the aligned action you need to, you are protecting yourself from this irrational fear coming to fruition. But, by not acting, you have?already convinced?yourself of an untrue reality, instead of the opportunity to prove that story wrong.

Its easy to fall into the trap of holding back because it’s not perfect, but not perfect with action is better than, never doing it at all. Just get it done. There may be mistakes there may be small errors but at least you have completed the task and can move onto the next one. Everything can be edited later, it’s totally possible to have an improved version or an updated model, at a later stage.

In the early days, in business, we are often the only one in our company, and there isn’t the support network or others to pass on jobs or delegate tasks, so we have to be as energy efficient and concise as possible, in order not to loose momentum in the process. If there is a text error on your website its not the end of the world, as long as your true message gets across, people can see through that. So just launch that website and get it online so people can start to see you and spend money on your product or service. This is so much better than holding back on the upload of your site for months on end because you have changed your mind on the logo colour for the millionth time. No one cares what colour your logo is, its not going to change their lives, but your message to them, might well do, they just want to hear from you.

Embrace the process of getting your idea out into the world rather than obsessing over the finer details.

This is all underpinned by the culture of perfectionism we are living in. We are surrounded by social media images of outwardly perfect bodies, faces and lives. Engineered to make us believe that perfectionism is obtainable and a common standard for everyone. However we all also know this is unrealistic and unhealthy, yet there is still a?subconscious urge to strive for it anyway.

There is an incredible value in just being you. Not comparing yourself with the perfect images of unrealistic celebrities that surround us online, but getting out there as YOU, because people want to hear from you as your unique and authentic self, not as someone else who looks and sounds like everyone else. Be individual, stand out and I can guarantee there are a million people out there who will totally resonate with you, because of it.

If your waiting to get those photos for your website when you have lost a few pounds, or are planning to finish writing that book when you have designed the perfect cover, or have decided you are definitely going to launch that online course when you have just a little bit more experience. Stop overthinking it and go ahead and do it anyway.

People are waiting to hear your message, to understand and resonate with your pain point and need your product or service to solve a problem in their own lives and they need it now. Every second you are “waiting” to launch your website, or build your online course, or write that book, you are avoiding reaching those out there who genuinely need to hear from you. It is draining your valuable energy, zapping your enthusiasm to move forward and stretching your motivation to a point, where it will dissipate entirely. By holding back on finishing you are leaving valuable money on the table from those who will buy from you today.

Let me tell you something controversial….

“There is never a, 100% perfect and totally right time”…

….there is only inspired action, right now. Take action on that thing you have been procrastinating over for the last few days, weeks, months or years and make today the day you set it out there. Because the freeing feeling you will get once it’s done, will out weigh that concern about it being perfect, and start changing peoples lives, making money and building the business that you have always dreamed of creating, today.

I work with new entrepreneurs to help them achieve goals,?offer consistent accountability and get them working?with the right mindset to get things moving forwards in their businesses. If you have been waiting for too long to get started,?you might decide to hire a business mentor like me.

There is a reason that the top performers in all disciplines work with someone to help them achieve bigger and better things. A coach or mentor can be invaluable to?help you?make progress in a way that is quicker and more effective than you could achieve on your own.

Empower, inspire and live with passion!