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Tag Archives: Perfectionism

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Perfectionism

01 Monday Aug 2022

Posted by Dave Gardner in Motivation Monday

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Arthur Ashe, Completed, Done, Finished, Mark Zuckerberg, Monday, motivation, Perfectionism, Procrastination

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”

Arthur Ashe

Arthur refers to doing something, rather than avoiding action until everything is perfect. Perfectionism is a horrible problem, particularly when it comes to doing something you want to do. I have read many articles about this, primarily when it comes to writing, but this pertains to everything. I used to be a perfectionist, and it sucks. Can you guess what I got done? Not much.

Do the best you can with what you have. If you don’t know everything, that’s ok. Do what you can, learn some, and then do some more. It is really that simple. Yet, there are still some out there who are skeptical. That’s ok.

“Done is better than perfect.” – Mark Zuckerberg.

When you think about people like Zuckerberg, Gates, Jobs, you think productivity, right? You think about how the heck do they do all the stuff they do every day? I do. It’s because they do what they can, with what they have–now.

Try stepping out of your comfort zone, if you are a perfectionist. Just get whatever job you’re doing done, skipping over the perfectionist stuff that will delay this. How do you feel when you’ve finished? How does it feel to check that off your to-do list?

Well, that’s all I got for now. I hope you have a great Monday.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Execution

22 Monday Mar 2021

Posted by Dave Gardner in Motivation Monday

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Tags

doubt, Execution, Little Steps, momentum, motivation, Perfectionism, Plan, Procrastination

So you have goals and a plan. What do you do now? Execute.

Get your action steps on your calendar and to-do list, and start knocking things off. Easy right? Nope.

This is the time procrastination raises its ugly head. This is the time we execute the things that have nothing to do with our goals and priorities. Why do we do this to ourselves? Fear of failure, perfectionism, and perhaps a little doubt sprinkled in (Is this the best use of my time?).

This is the time to do what Nike suggests in their logo–Just Do It. You’ve decided it was a worthy goal. You’ve put together a plan to achieve the goal. Just start knocking out the stuff on your list. Get it done.

If you still hesitate, take the action steps you have already and break them down further. Whittle these things down until you no longer resist them. Whenever we hesitate to do something we have in our plan, it is either too big, or we lack the skills to execute the steps. It’s ok to discover this when you begin executing because you likely have never done this before. It’s ok.

When you revise your plan so that it is easier to execute, you’ll find getting started easier. You’ll also build a momentum to your work. You’ll start building confidence in yourself. You’ll begin to think that you worried over nothing and your action plan will work.

Perfectionism? Don’t let this hold you back. Just do the best you can. Execute your plan and take care of the details later. It feels good to make progress. Take advantage of that and keep moving forward. You decide when you’ve gotten a project completed. You. Don’t let perfectionism slow you down. Done is better than perfect. What is perfect anyway? Do you know?

Your doubt about your ability to do something will fade as you begin getting your tasks done. You will start to see how execution helps you move forward and your confidence will build as you move through task by task. Keep going. Use that forward momentum to keep moving. Once I start moving forward, it is hard to stop. The momentum is easier to keep going, once you are going.

Well, folks. That’s all I have for today. Have a great Monday.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Regret

17 Wednesday Jun 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Wisdom Wednesday

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Tags

Art, creativity, do it, failure, Get it done, Mistakes, Perfectionism, Procrastination, Regret

Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.

Sydney J. Harris

All of us have regrets of some sort. Minimize them by doing what you want to do and get to doing them. Act as if you could not fail, and you will avoid much regret in your life.

I used to be a huge procrastinator until I read some books that stated that the bulk of procrastination is caused by a fear of failure. Eliminate failure, and you’ve won half the battle.

The next contributor to procrastination is perfectionism. You say to yourself, “I want to do this thing, but it has to be perfect.” Then you delay and delay and delay some more. Why? Because you will never attain perfection. You will only achieve your best, and you know what your best is.

Take any art, be it book writing, drawing, anything that involves creativity. You decide when you’ve hit your best. You’ve decided when it is done. It doesn’t matter what other people say. You accomplished what you set out to do. And you know, the people that will like it are out there. But you have to get your creation out there for other people to notice.

When I first began blogging, I was so worried about what other people would think. Did I put enough time into that post? Are there any grammatical errors? Did I talk about the right topic? The answer: YES. Your readership likes what you are writing. They like what you talk about. They enjoy seeing what you’ve done.

Do everything as if you cannot fail, and don’t worry about what others think. I know that’s hard to do, but trust me. You’ll be much more productive and you’ll start knocking things off of your to-do list more quickly if you do the best you can, with what you have, be it time, resources, or any number of possible constraints.

You’ll feel better. You’ll feel more confident. You’ll enjoy what you are doing when you grant yourself the freedom to screw up.

Happy Wednesday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Mistakes

05 Thursday Mar 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Thankful Thursdays

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Tags

Grateful, Mistakes, Perfectionism, Peter Drucker, Procrastination, Productivity, Thankful

People who don’t take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year. People who do take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.

Peter Drucker

Do you procrastinate? If so, one of the reasons may be that you are a perfectionist. A perfectionist wants everything to be perfect. They want their work areas to be perfectly set up, their project plans perfectly in place, their final product perfect. Guess what? These are all unattainable. Perfection will never happen–ever.

I used to be a perfectionist. It is a bad way to be. When I realized this, I began to look at how to get things done and not worry about the end result. There will always be something else you can do. There will always be another opportunity to improve. So give yourself a break. Get to work, make your mistakes, fix them, and get the job done.

When I stopped praying to the perfectionism gods, my life got a lot easier. I no longer worry about making mistakes. When I discover I made one, I fix it and move on. If the mistake is something I can avoid in the future, I note it, develop a mechanism to prevent it in the future, and get back to work.

If you are a perfectionist and want to escape the perfectionist-procrastination cycle you might want to check out this article by Web Standards Sherpa. I’ve read it and it’s pretty good. You’ll be amazed how freeing it is to just get to work and deal with the mistakes as they come.

Today, I’m thankful for leaving perfectionism behind.

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Thinking Thursday

15 Thursday Nov 2018

Posted by Dave Gardner in Thinking Thursdays

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Tags

Abraham Lincoln, Paralysis by Analysis, Perfectionism, Procrastination, Stephen Guise, Walt Disney, Worry

“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” Walt Disney

Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/walt_disney_100644

As you’ll see below, I’m reading another Stephen Guise book. This one is called How to be an Imperfectionist. It’s a great book and will help you get unstuck, particularly if you are a perfectionist and worried about all the bad things that could happen to you if you start doing this or that before you even start!

I didn’t realize how much of a perfectionist I was until I began reading this book. If nothing else, this book will motivate you to just start something, instead of wasting time worrying about things that may or may not happen in the process. Just get on with it already!

I think this is an important point. How many dreams do you have? What goals would you like to begin but haven’t? How many projects are you still thinking about doing? Just get moving on them. This is easier said than done, I know.

Paralysis by analysis is the best description I can give in this regard. It is overthinking. It is over-worrying, it is planning for doom when you haven’t even started. It’s all those things that cause you to pause before you do anything.

You want to learn to draw—do it! You want to find a companion—get out there! You want to write that book—get on with it! Seriously, folks. Stop thinking about all the problems you’re going to have and just get moving on your projects. This is really liberating.

If this is you—read this book: How to be an imperfectionist, Stephen Guise. It’s the best $5.99 you’ll ever spend. I’m still reading the book but will finish it before the weekend is out. I’ve already begun doing the things I wanted to do without reading his book, but you guessed it—I was one of those folks that would talk about doing this or that and never get off the ground. Now, I am pursuing all of it. Life is so much better when you just get on with what you want to do and stop worrying so much about outcomes. Enjoy the ride!

One of the things I say to myself when I am about to do something that is on the edge of my comfort zone, is: The Adventure Begins. This is something I picked up in the Army. This statement was a psychological trigger that caused me to instantly focus on soldiering and forget about the girlfriend or wife I was leaving, the comforts of home I would be missing out on. This triggered my alter-ego—the soldier who was tough as nails focused on the mission, come hell or high water. The Adventure Begins is a great way to tackle some of your high-stress, high-angst projects. Just get started, folks. You will feel so much better when you do.

You can even read about Walt Disney’s life if you want. Heck, read about Lincoln too. Both men dealt with serious setbacks and accomplished great things. They looked at the situation, put together a plan and did the best they could as they went along. In the end, they went down in history as men who did things no one else could do or wanted to do. They took life as it came and dealt with all the problems and issues facing them.

Were their solutions perfect? No. They were just solutions, wrought with problems, disappointments, and challenges. They moved forward day-by-day and, in the end, accomplished great things. You don’t need to be a Walt Disney or Abraham Lincoln to do the same.

Here’s what I’ve done this week:

Exercise Program:

Jim Stoppani’s Shortcut to Size – (www.bodybuilding.com) – I’ve done this workout before and returning to it because it is just a good all-around weight routine. It’s 8 weeks in length, a 4-day split with 3 rest/cardio days mixed in.

Books:

Armor, Steakley – Recommended by an Army Buddy. Wow! What a terrific book! If you like outer space stuff, you’ll like this book. Great action, lots of twists and turns in the plot, and such a great climax at the end.

Mini-habits for weight loss, Guise – Finished this book in a day. It has some great advice on weight loss, particularly the suggested mini habits to get your program jump-started. If you’d like to leave the Yo-Yo diet world and start something that helps you change for the long-term, this is your book.

How to be an Imperfectionist, Guise – Yep, I’m on a Stephen Guise kick right now. He has written some other books and I’m going to read all of them. All his books are reasonably priced (around $5.99 for the kindle version). If you like mini-habits, his first book, you’ll enjoy the rest. They all read the same but have some different ideas. I’ll write a review once I’m finished.

Classes:

De-mystifying Mindfulness Course – Coursera – One of the largest disadvantages of the Coursera platform is the timing. I like moving through a course at my own pace. I lost interest in this course when I was forced to stop doing anything for it for over a week. I am now concentrating on one of my life goals—to learn how to write code.

Codecademy – I’m currently learning how to use Atom, a text editor that can compile your code. It is free and was developed on Git Hub. I am still working with HTML and CSS, but now am working on projects that have little to no step-by-step hand-holding. This project is a basic website and the code is all my own. I really enjoy this stuff. This is particularly fun because it is really testing my ability to generate code on my own, just like a typical developer would, working with images, a technical spec, and that’s it. This is a real kick!

Documentaries:

Looking for one that interests me.

Movies:

Haven’t found any movies that have intrigued me enough to watch.

Fun:

Ozark – Netflix – Season 2 – Ok, they did a good job with this. I won’t give you any spoilers, other than it is just as good as Season 1. I highly recommend this one. If you haven’t watched Ozark, you’ll want to add this one to your watchlist.

Homecoming (Amazon) – This is a thriller with Julia Roberts. I really enjoyed it and blew through it in a few days. What I liked most was the shortness of the episodes (around 20 minutes or so). There is also a very interesting cinematic effect you’ll see when you watch it. I won’t give it away here. All I can say is this is another series worth the watch.

Interesting Apps:

Toon Blast – Every once in a while, I come across an entertaining game app. This one is a match game of sorts but very entertaining.

Until next time…

Dave

 

42.997933
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Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote

18 Monday Sep 2017

Posted by Dave Gardner in Quotes

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Beneficial Habits, Fear, Napoleon Hill, Perfectionism, Procrastintation

Today’s Quote:

“Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.” – Napoleon Hill

Procrastination is the killer of all goals, dreams, and plans. There are many articles online, books, and other sources that discuss the problems associated with procrastination. The two primary reasons I procrastinate are fear and perfectionism.

When I fear to have to do something, like making an unpleasant phone call or having an unpleasant conversation, I procrastinate. When I am working on a large writing project or some other important goal, I procrastinate because I want it to be perfect.

The logic behind both of these reasons is absurd when you think about it. Feeling fear about an unpleasant phone call or conversation–get it over with. Perfectionism? What is my definition of perfect and how do I know that it will be perfect for someone else? The key to doing anything or make progress is simply to do it.

Weightlifting is a hobby of mind. It is more like a lifestyle. I enjoy working out. I enjoy going to the gym. It was not always this way, however. There have been times where I would just blow off the gym for weeks on end. What I discovered when I figured out that fitness was a lifestyle choice was simply to go to the gym, regardless of what I did. You know what happened? It got easier and I actually enjoyed going. In fact, I look forward to going to the gym.

There will always be internal resistance with anything you try. There will always be some fear, some perfectionism, something that will tell you internally, “hey, why don’t we think about this a little more, or why don’t we wait one more day so we can do this at this time instead?” That internal voice will make a shift when you begin seeing the benefits of your fitness choice. I imagine the same will be true for any other beneficial habit you attempt to bring into your life.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote

30 Wednesday Aug 2017

Posted by Dave Gardner in Quotes

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Achievement, Perfectionism, Procrastination, Progress

Today’s Quote:

“Strive for progress, not perfection.” – Unknown

If you consider yourself a perfectionist, you’re probably very familiar with the bane of perfectionism – procrastination. It’s so easy to delay a project because it just isn’t right or you’re missing one of this or that.

The key to progress is to continue pushing along. If you achieve the goal, you won’t worry about how you got there, you’ll enjoy the satisfaction of actually achieving what you set out to do.

If you make mistakes, turn right when you were supposed to turn left, mark it down as a learning opportunity. Remember, most of the things we strive to achieve, we have never done before. Mistakes and imperfections are part of the journey.

Until next time…

Dave

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