If you are a perfectionist, you probably have a hard time getting projects done. Things take too long, you have a lot of unfinished projects, and you get frustrated with yourself when you know you can do better.
On the one side, our perfectionist personalities deliver high quality results that set us apart. On the other side, we have to be aware that oftentimes it keeps us from wrapping up a project, continuing to work on a project, or even starting a project. This is because we’re afraid our work is not going to be up to snuff.
Here are 2 tools to help with this situation:
1. 80% is better than 100%
If we go for 100%, we typically get it to around 50%, but then we can see it’s going to be hard to get it the rest of the way to 100%. So our project gets pushed to the back burner, eventually fades into the sunset, and never gets done. In this scenario we just wasted all that time getting it to 50%.
If we just go for 80%, we not only get it done faster, but we get to see the benefits of our efforts sooner. And the end result usually means money in our pockets
2. Pretend you are Joe Bauers
One of my favorite movies is Idiocracy. The movie opens in 2005 with an average joe, Joe Bauers, as the protagonist. Through a series of unfortunate events, Joe wakes up in 2505, after sleeping for 500 years, to find that he is the smartest guy in a world full of dummies.
From the very beginning of your project and all the way through it, imagine you are Joe Bauers in the year 2505.
You only have to get the project 80% done right for the audience you are building it for. You know it could have been done much better, but the rest of the world is going to think you are a genius!
80% is faster, better and incredibly liberating, knowing that you don’t have to get it perfect every time.
