I am guilty of it. I get so caught up in trying to get something perfect that it often never gets complete or put out there. I always overthink things and this really delays tasks and progress.
As an example, when I was getting a graphic made for one of my products. I often questioned, does this color work better? Is this font better? Does there need to be space here?
Trying to get this “perfect” in my eyes, would waste hours and sometimes days on small trivial tasks that should be completed very quickly.
This happens because of the need to make things perfect before finishing them and putting it out there.
When I first started building my own businesses I would suffer from this problem. I still do to some extent, however, I have found a way to overcome this.
The way to get around this is to get it good enough or about 80% perfect. Yes, a very simple but highly effective strategy. Don’t overcomplicate small tasks. Take action, get them done, get them done to a “good enough” standard.
It’s far more important for your progress for it to be done and complete so you move onto the next task.
You can always go back and edit, optimize and improve it at a later stage.
To help you get something done and complete so you can move onto another task, what I normally do is set a time limit for a task to be complete. So I know then once the time limit is reached and the task is done to a good enough standard I can move on.
I have found when not setting a time limit, this can lead to the endless “perfection syndrome” of constantly editing, tinkering and trying to perfect the task.
Here is an example not related to business as to why consistency is better than perfection.
Which scenario below would help you lose weight?
A – Going to the gym once and doing the perfect 2 hour gym session
B – Going to the gym for 1 hour 4 times per week for 4 weeks
Answer is B
The consistent action of going to the gym, over a period of time would lose you more weight.
Not going to the gym once but having the perfect 2-hour session.
The same principle applies to business.
Consistency is key.
Consistency is more important than perfection.
Consistent action will get you results.
You can always refine and perfect later.
Consistency actually leads to perfection, as the act of repeating helps you perfect.
Try it, and I’m sure you will see results a lot faster.
Do you suffer from this problem? Leave a comment below and let me know.
