Everyone can achieve amazing results, but being a perfectionist can stop you dead in your tracks.
Being perfect can be a good thing, but it can also lead to unforeseen problems. If you are a perfectionist, you are guilty of being a procrastinator at some point in your life. In an effort to be perfect, you lose time, miss opportunities, and fail to meet goals. It can even ruin your career.
When focusing exclusively on perfection, you lose productivity. Without productivity, achieving success is difficult. With productivity, you can achieve more things in less time. Here are some ways that perfection can be an obstacle to productivity.
Negative aspects of being a perfectionist
A perfectionist is more inclined to procrastinate
A Type-A personality can be impatient, ambitious, and highly competitive. These are all great qualities. Yet, in a bid to be perfect, to create that perfect report or presentation, they may end up procrastinating. Being a procrastinator can turn into an ugly habit. Procrastination can hurt your reputation and cause undue stress.
You are afraid of negative feedback
A perfectionist may be afraid of negative feedback. They may work long and hard to achieve “perfection” in an effort to avert negative feedback, but never realize the true potential of their efforts. Here is some good news; feedback, be it positive or negative, is an essential element of success.
Feedback gives you insights into your work, be it a report, presentation, or website. If you are afraid of producing anything less than perfection, you risk missing out on constructive feedback that enhances your product, website, or brand.
You burn yourself out
Being in a situation where you become burned out can quickly degrade your productivity. When you work too many hours, your life is out of balance. You may feel extremely tired and lose interest in things that you once found enjoyable. You may become irritable and hurt people or business relationships. You may eventually become so disgruntled that all you think of is getting away from your work.
Perfection may be an obstacle in everyday life
If you have a business idea, don’t spend your time endlessly crafting the perfect plan. Start your business and conquer it one stage at a time. Who knows, by the time that your venture is launched, someone may have already beaten you to the punch.
As an example, if you are working on an app or a software program, don’t spend an exorbitant amount of time testing and fixing bugs. Rather, release a beta product and debug it while it is being developed. You don’t want to lose a great concept to someone else because you spent a majority of your time on the initial stages of development.
Just be satisfied with being good
Having more time lets you be more productive. Don’t waste your time achieving perfection. It is an impossible feat. Just be satisfied with being good, as you can always improve your results with feedback!
Author Bio: Alice Clarke is a content strategist and a writer from Topaussiewriters. She loves to turn her writing into amazing pieces and inspire other people to do the same.
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