Why You Shouldn’t Be a Perfectionist
Perfectionism is the belief that one should strive towards perfection, the best possible state in every material or spiritual endeavor.
In its pathological form, perfectionism may result in an obsessive-compulsive attention to details, high sensitivity to criticism, long term anxiety, stubbornness, insular thinking and procrastination, the biggest obstacle to success.
When it comes to generating income online or marketing your business, the strive for perfection can cripple your ability to achieve objectives. The desire to create the best product, website or content in your niche is a worthy goal to hold in mind but sometimes, the need to be perfect leads to a lot of unnecessary obstacles.
Instead of obsessing over the quality of your content and writing/rewriting articles again and again, just publish the article and run with it. You certainly don’t need to write the best article ever produced on a certain topic. Don’t let the expectations of your audience or customers become a mental burden.
The biggest problem with being a perfectionist is that it leads to procrastination and fatigue. The obsessive need to be perfect weighs down your mind and tires your psyche: You’ll get worn out soon enough if you keep worrying about the many ways you can improve your site or how you could have done something better.
I know this because I’m a perfectionist myself when it comes to creating websites or content (note to self: spend less time choosing pictures). I deliberate far too much on the best way to materialize ideas. This inertia usually leads to procrastination.
Image Credit: Ganymedes Costagravas
You can tweak and re-tweak your site design for hundreds of hours and someone will still come along to find some fault with it. The need for immediate public coherence with our personal beliefs is a result of pathological perfectionism.
Sometimes we need to understand that the subjective perspectives of others are something we can react to and manage over time: You can eventually turn an enemy or critic into a friend or believer by responding to their feedback and adapting your product/website to better fulfill user needs.
You cannot instantly satisfy everyone with your content or product and you don’t need to. Every website will resonate with an audience which finds it relevant. This core audience is a testing ground for innovation and a valuable source of feedback.
React to them, develop the positives and minimize the negatives. Worry less about your own vision of perfection because your singular perspective may be limited. Let the desire for perfection be a motivational tool and not a psychological barrier.
If you have a good idea, create an action plan and make it happen immediately. Loic de Meur, a French entrepreneur recently talked about ten rules for startup success and I found a few of his tips were quite relevant to this article:
Don’t wait for a revolutionary idea. It will never happen. Just focus on a simple, exciting, empty space and execute as fast as possible Don’t spend time on market research. Launch test versions as early as possible. Keep improving the product in the open. Don’t obsess over spreadsheet business plans. They are not going to turn out as you predict, in any case. Don’t plan a big marketing effort. It’s much more important and powerful that your community loves the product. Don’t focus on getting rich. Focus on your users. Money is a consequence of success, not a goal.
Some people seem to overlook a simple fact: if you want to earn a living online, you don’t need a unique idea and perfectly designed/optimized website to make a lot of money. In most cases, an average idea or website will pull in the income that you desire. Perfection is overkill, even when you want to achieve ridiculous goals.
Showing up is half the battle won, so act more and worry less about being perfect.
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Note to Maki: Why not spend even more time choosing just the right pictures….they are a big part of what makes your website remarkable.
Of course, I would read your blog without the cool pics, but then, I’m already sold on it. I think first time visitors really have a “wow” response to some of your colorful posts.
Perfectionist was exactly my problem of being an start up entrepreneur. I like to get things done perfectly to keep my reputation. However, time is money. Perfection sometimes take down you chance to be a successful man.
We need to find the balance between perfection and time spent on making it perfect.
Great post as usual!
Thanks!
Thank you Maki for some great advice. I needed to hear exactly this right now. Amazing
Agreed! I tried writing articles just to get the most exposure and was stressing myself out. Now I just go with however I write. I quick read through it and if the message comes out clear, to me its good enough.
Thanx for the wonderful read, again!
It is so hard to find that balance between perfectionism and liking things to be “just so” that’s for sure.
You need to perfect to compete for mastery. Just take some breaks every now and then while revising or trying to improve something. Rushing leads to foolish mistakes!
Nice post as always, sometimes I thought that in order to have competitive advantage we should have the best optimized web and content, but how, and finally I realize that it’s still far from it.
I tend to put too much thought in things that are not so important also ie picking pics, spacing out paragraphs, changing wording. I sometimes have the mentality that if it can’t be perfect, than I shouldn’t even try which leads to procrastination. Thanks for the tips. They make ‘perfect’ sense
I have been suffering from a self centered perfectionist syndrome over the past couple of weeks…
to get some good marketing campaigns going for a couple of blogs I am putting a lot of pressure one me to create the best content to greet the visitors.(learned that from this post) ..
guess this will help smooth things and also get some content going instead of fretting over how good it will turn out
That’s great advice. I wonder how many brilliant advances never came about because the would-be creators were hindered by their own high standards.
I went through the same experience with my latest post. Trying to just make it better(perfect) I spent hours and hours, in the end turned out to be ok.
The point is to put your best into without and not let the ultimate perfectionist attitude bog you down. You can only learn this with experience.All the best.
Dude, this article really hit home with me. I’m a perfectionist myself and I can attest to everything you wrote, especially regarding the obsessive-compulsive and anxiety-related effects.
Really good stuff man. Given your machine-like posting frequencies and huge audience, I wouldn’t be surprised if you had a bottle of benzodiazepines handy. I know I would if I were you.
Absolutely beautiful article Maki. I could myself realize the same thing that I have been going on through almost everyday. I try to get each and everything perfect which leaves me with only two choices. Either complete it or don’t start it at all. And over the time I have realized that I have missed out on quite many oppurtunities choosing the later.
Your article made me realize that it is in fact a malady which some might face over the time. I have decided to give up on the procrastination factor to make myself more confident about my abilities. Thanks for the reminder.
Maki, thanks for the post. I was just wondering right now before reading your post.
Do you mind sharing tips on how to stick with the action plan? What if you constantly distracted from the tasks in the plan?
I liked how you ended your article:
“if you want to earn a living online, you don’t need a unique idea and perfectly designed/optimized website to make a lot of money. In most cases, an average idea or website will pull in the income that you desire.”
I completely agree with this; and there are numerous examples of it.
Well said Maki.
I hear you, Maki!
Your point about just showing up, is so true. It’s so easy to spend way too much time just thinking about how we’ll look, and what impact we’ll make when we show up, and yet, we never actually do!
Can the next post be “How To Actually Stop Being a Perfectionist” ?
“The biggest problem with being a perfectionist is that it leads to procrastination and fatigue.”
I completely agree here, striving for perfection is a sure way to procrastinate and abandon projects. Jus do it ™ seems like good advice!
Maki,
Darren @ problogger.net had a post like this not long a go where we mentioned so many of his friends where worried to start blogging because they didn’t know if they might get called on for mistakes they may make in their copy. My comment was to roll with what you have and add new posts to say that you have come up with new findings.
I do agree that you must have a certain level of perfectionism in you in order to produce quality as opposed to delivered sub-standard quality to your readers, but at some point you past the point where it’s about quality and enter the “obsessive zone” and that’s not good.
I believe that being an “exaggerated perfectionist” will cost you in terms of achieving success because you are constantly looking for excuses to justify why things are not moving forward…it’s easy to say: it’s still not what I’m looking for.
I have two very good examples of that:
I know two people who have been playing around with their sites to try to get everything perfectly set and over one year later they are still playing around with software and reading sales letter about new software that is launched weekly.
One of these people has been reading every single guru-web-page in the hopes of creating the perfect web site and she’s still not there…she started building her site in the summer of 2006 (yes, that’s over one-year-and-a-half to put up a web page!!!!). Every time she talks to me it’s to complain about her web guys who not getting it or to ask me about a new piece of software. Time and time, I’ve told her to ditch the traditional web sites and go for a blog…but I could be having the conversation with myself…it would be the same.
The other person I know keeps complaining about her current site and is looking for the perfect layout for her site. She’s frustrated and quite angry and depressed about her site that is stagnant. I suggested again a blog platform…only to be received by a shower of reasons why blogs are not up to her aesthetical standards.
It’s sad because both business people are running around in circles trying to find the most perfect solutions for their sites…in the mean time the clock is still ticking away and time is passing and they have nothing to show for.
It should not take anyone one year to put up a web site with all the tools that are available out there.
Wanting quality is essential. I don’t do anything that’s not high quality…but there comes a time where you have to just roll with what you have and make corrections/adjustments along the way.
Maki, this was an excellent piece and one that makes us all take note that perfectionism doesn’t equate to success.
Gisele
Maki - the time you spend on picking pictures is well worth it. That’s what initially caught my eye on this blog, I could tell that you cared about every aspect of it.
@Patrick
I would spend more time on choosing the right pictures if I had time…with so many things to do and ideas to execute, I really shouldn’t spend up to an hour (sometimes) choosing a couple of pictures for a blog post. I love picking pictures that go together though so it’s not a boring chore or anything but I feel I should really be less picky on this aspect.
@Ritu, jblu, Ad Tracker, Tenence, nitinpai, Sakura
You’re welcome… I’m glad you found the post useful.
@Hendry
Yes, I’ll probably write another post on how I manage my time when it comes to creating websites and making money online.
@Sucker
Maybe… I’ll write about How Not to be a Perfectionist if I had time… but I think the trick is mainly to not care too much about everything. Writing out some mottos/principles and pasting them on the wall in front of you while you work is something that works well for me.
@ Gisele
Thanks a lot for sharing your experiences with obsessive perfectionism. I agree that your friends are probably stalling too much on something that could be easily outsourced to an expert. Sometimes the things we cannot do ourselves could be easily done by someone else (in this case a web designer).
The perfectionist mindset is related to a fear of failure and a hyper-critical attitude that is often directed towards oneself. This is not only unhealthy but very unproductive as well. It would be so much better to just put up the site and then improve it over time when you receive more feedback or gain more knowledge.
@Everyone else
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
“The biggest problem with being a perfectionist is that it leads to procrastination and fatigue.”
Being new to blogging I find I am spending way too much time researching just how I can set up the perfect blog instead of just going ahead and making the changes I know I want right now.
Thanks for the reality check.
Though out of print, Hope for the Perfectionist by Dr. David Stoop can be found in many libraries and is an excellent resource for those wanting to understand this issue in detail - you can change if you understand why you act in this way!!!
well said maki. i think when you prepare for something to and you want it to be perfect…it makes it that much harder to start it. it’s better to start and tweak and fix along the way. i’m very big on learning by trial and error.
I love posts like this because I think most of us are running into the same problems and emotions. Most of the time I don’t comment in blogs because I want to make the perfect blog-comment! LOL!
It’s nice to be reminded that we ought to just get up, get it done fast, but to not obsess over it too. Just keep taking little steps.
I need to write a macro to say I agree with Maki.
While I agree that people will come back for great content, it is not necessarily true that they will come back for great grammar, punctuation, etc.
It just has to be readable.
I am often amazed how people can spend 20 minutes on their post while I struggle for 2 hours with a paragraph.
i guess we should have a balance in both - like the point of “Don’t spend time on market research. Launch test versions as early as possible. Keep improving the product in the open” - should be cautious on launching new product but conduct some market research - not simply launch new products and waste time because it’s not what the market wants. So balance - of research and execution…
Dear Maki - I usually strive for perfection as well and yes, the fatigue and procrastination set it. I have learned to live with “good enough” so long as my customers are well taken care of. I don’t even know where I put my original business plan and can’t remember the last time I mapped out an advertising plan. My current plan now is to have fun and enjoy what I do because after all, that is why I do it!
Well this is quite interesting and good for those who are trying to be perfection and coming out with nothing … better way is to keep moving ahead and slowly you will perfection yourself easily… as being a perfectionist isint something which u can achieve in one day
Anyways nic article to read about
Regards
you also need to have rubbish developers messing up the code in order to keep all of us in a job. if all this software worked perfectly, was easily extensible and ran quickly, we’d have nothing to do and therefore no paycheck. incompetence keeps me in the money
Great post Maki. That’s my problem all over. The constant writing and re-writing. It’s why at present I’m only posting about once a week, when I’d love to do more. i’ll definitely be heeding your advice.
I think there’s good and bad. Being a perfectionist ensures that it’s 100% quality..
But I believe there are things to consider such as, would becoming a perfectionist for a specific task or project yields greater value or the same?
I believe it’s better to get things done and by meeting a little higher than what people expects better than becoming a 100% perfectionist - you’d be exhausted sooner than you think
Anyway great article!
In my humble opinion, to be a perfectionist person is good. It is because you always struggle to be better than before. As a blogger, we must learn many things through the experiences from what we have received.
Yes Maki I am not a perfectionist and never can be one. For me the 80 20 rule prevails and I am a much better starter than finisher. I guess we can never reach perfection and the objective must be to be able to accept that inescapable fact. We are humand and imperfect
That French entrepreneur said some really stupid things.
“Don’t do market research” unless of course you want see if your business has a chance at success or not. Of course I guess you could always throw away thousands of dollars and months of time on launching that buggy whip business.
“Don’t plan a big marketing effort” unless of course you actually want your product to get off the ground. I guess you could just hope people will find your product by randomly typing in your URL.
And probably the dumbest piece of business advice I’ve ever heard, “Don’t focus on the money, focus on the users”. How many internet startups failed miserably because they had lots of great features for the users and no business model. Also, some of us make our living off of the internet. I’m not playing around on the net thinking maybe I’ll strike it big with the next YouTube. I make websites expecting income from them to pay the bills. If I don’t have a business plan from the start, I don’t get the income latter. If I don’t get the income, I have to get a real job (shudder).
Hello Maki, I find the post very nice, specially the rules you mentioned.
Spending all of your time trying to be a perfectionist is just a waste of time. I know I have spent way to much time trying to be perfect, and now maybe I wont anymore. Thanks for the post.
Hi Maki,
Another post that really speaks to me. Especially when it comes to writing for my blog, I know it’s not yet where I want it to be, and because of that, the temptation is to just “wait” until things are just right. Sometimes it’s better to just put out what we’ve got, and use it as building block for improvement.
Thanks for what you do.
people throw the word ‘perfectionist’ around at work all the time (along with ‘logic’). i hate both words. i have ‘logic’ bell…anytime someone uses the word when it doesn’t belong, i ring the bell. i may have to start doing it with ‘perfectionist’ too.
Perfect is not possible.
That’s the problem.
So it’s a stupid goal.
We might as well reveal our ambition is to be an omnipotent being. Good luck with that.
The goal should be to strive for excellence.
That is both worthy and possible.
So stop defending perfectionism, if you are. That’s not possible, either. It’s the root cause of procrastination, body dysmorphic disorder, authoritarianism, and other conditions that are bad for us.
Great article.
Procrastination can become a form of self-abuse.
You are appriecated for what you do.
I’m a perfectionist myself, and find myself some times dwelling as much as 6-7 hours on a single post, which in term leads to a whole lot of wasted time and effort, in return for a little more quality. I can’t help myself though, I can’t seem to hit the publish button without adding a lit more detail and checking my sources twice or x3. How do you manage to get past these moments ?
I think many of us try to push out well focused relevant content, posts, or messages to perhaps please everyone. I have learnt to adapt to the audience in mind - particularly for forums. If the audience are well versed, such as in technical blog sites and computer forums then I take a lot longer to think and construct to submit a relevant quality focused post.
But in some social media sites where I submit to my younger family members then my messages or posts are simple, which I know are more digestible to them than submitting perhaps a well versed message or post. I guess perfection has varying standards of perception - depending who you are trying to be perfect for…and how they would perceive it…
Great post! The real problem starts when you start to enjoy the process of striving for perfection: Moving every single pixel a hundred times until it falls into that exact special place. Bringing myself to create more and polish less is something of a challenge to me. Cool and wise post.
There is one more aspect, which derives from being focused on the users. If your posts are perfect, authoritative or from a an expert’s point of view, then there is nothing to really comment on. Imperfect posts can encourage a discourse in the community.
@Todd
You’re welcome! Always put out what you’ve got and learn from the response… at least that’s what I’ve realized after some time.
@ Tibi
How do I get past these moments? By only allowing myself to spend more time on one or two ‘big’ articles a week.. I don’t blog everyday and that certainly takes a lot of pressure off me. I also make sure I spend less time on other posts I write.
Because I’ve spent so much more time on the bigger articles, I have more freedom to play around with less detailed posts… which will still satisfy readers.
@ Michael
That’s a good point. Who you’re creating content for matters in a way… although I think the biggest problem is the need to be perfect (or else everything will fail). Perfection can easily lead to inertia and fear of action, sometimes too… gotta look out for that
@ Everyone else
Sorry I can’t reply to all of you individually but thanks a lot for your comments and for sharing your thoughts!
Great stuff Maki…
Reminded me of a couple of posts I read recently from Aaron Wall and Patrick Altoft:
http://www.seobook.com/share-your-best-ideas-today
http://blog.seoptimise.com/200.....kills.html
Keep up the great work!
Great article, I find this to be all to often the reason sites and business don’t go anywhere. I’ve never been a perfectionist myself, mainly because I’ve been surrounded by them and can see the flaws from a mile away. My business partner is, however, and telling him not to be is quite a game. At times, I’m very blunt about it, but other times requires a delicate touch. It’s especially difficult when it comes to layout and design of the site, because I’m the designer and he doesn’t have the visual talent for design.