“Everything I do has to be perfect — I can’t afford to make any mistakes.” — This belief creates probably half the anxiety in the world.
This is why some of us check our email ten times or spend days on a task that should take just hours. We are driven not by excellence but by fear. This fear has a name — it is called perfectionism.
And our mind tells us that we ‘escaped’ the last time precisely because we spent so much time on the task. So perfectionism becomes a self-perpetuating belief.
Then what is the way out?
Deliberately take the risk of making mistakes. Cut down the time you spend on these tasks and ask yourself — if I make a mistake, how will I cope with it?
It turns out that most mistakes can be handled without too much damage. Once that fear is gone, the tyranny of perfectionism will break.
If it helps, remind yourself of this story: When iPhone was first launched, its keyboard was so hard to use and the battery drained out so quickly that BlackBerry assumed that the iPhone was no threat to them.
Unfortunately for BlackBerry, Apple kept improving and the rest is history.
If Steve Jobs did not wait to launch a perfect product then why do we have to be perfect? Don’t let fear drive your life.
Give yourself permission to make mistakes, learn, and move on. That is how you achieve excellence, not by sitting on your tasks forever.
– Rajan