Letting go of perfection in order to thrive more creatively
Although Perfectionism to a certain extent has it’s positive aspects, putting too much value into perfection has the potential to negatively influence your creative flow and delay or perhaps even prevent you from achieving your goals and dreams.
If you are constantly striving for perfection it is likely that your work is never good enough to be shared with others or you may never launch that business, pitch that idea etc.
Now there is a difference between striving to do things well and striving for perfection. I do think that it is important to put in effort and to do something properly, however there comes a point when you need to let go and accept that you have done something “ good enough”.
So aiming for simply doing well in whatever it is you're set to do instead of aiming for perfection may be a better way to ultimately achieve your goals.
Additionally, over-obsessing about doing things to a level of extreme perfection may be a sign of subconscious fears of being “inadequate” and lack of confidence/trust in yourself.
If you are the type who tries to get everything “perfect”, gets stuck with little details for too long or often feel that you aren’t ready yet, your work isn’t good enough, you haven’t worked on it long enough etc., you might be hindering yourself from moving forward by being too obsessed with perfection.
I personally have certain areas in my life in which I can become too obsessed with perfection and it hasn’t always lead to a positive outcome.
The good news is that there are ways in which you can work on your obsessive perfectionism and letting go of the idea of having to do everything to the level of absolute perfection definitely feels relieving.
Once you let go of perfection you can create more freely and slowly gain confidence in simply trusting that sometimes “good” is good enough.
Here are some ideas and strategies which have helped me in letting go of perfection.
Acknowledge that your striving for perfection is blocking you
As with most behaviours you wish to change, acknowledging that you are actually doing it and that it is a problem is the first step. You have to admit to yourself and accept that your perfectionism is hindering you from achieving your dreams and reaching your fullest potential. Only once you have accepted that you are doing something, you have the power to change it.
Reflect on why you do it
Try to think of situations in which you have become obsessed with doing things perfectly. What kinds of emotions were you feeling in those situations? Were you afraid of not being good enough, afraid of failure ? Perhaps you were afraid of being mocked or laughed at by others for releasing some work that wasn’t “ good enough”.
Think of the worst case scenario
Mentally facing the worst case scenario is an important step in overcoming overly perfectionistic patterns. Take a piece of paper and right down or mentally imagine what the worst scenario which could take place if you don’t do things “perfectly”. Ever so often you will realise that the worse case scenario isn’t actually that bad and hence you can let go a tiny bit.
Set yourself time limits and stick to them
Setting yourself a time limit for certain tasks and projects and sticking to it is a great way of preventing yourself from becoming too perfectionistic. This may be difficult in the beginning, but if you practice this regularly you will be able to accept more and more that things are “good enough” after you have invested a certain amount of time in them. I actually find that especially with creative projects a time limit can truly have a positive effect. Sometimes you aren’t “more creative” when you have endless amounts of time, endless amounts to perfect and endless amounts to overthink. The magic lies in the flow and limitations often inspire even more creativity and “thinking outside of the box”.
Realise that perfection is elusive
If you are a true perfectionist, it is likely that you will never quite reach true perfection because there will always be a way to yet make things better and improve. Perhaps you will feel perfection for a moment, but sooner or later you will yet again come to the conclusion that things aren’t “perfect yet” . Hence perfection is elusive. Accept that perfection is unattainable and that good enough is already great.
Live in the present
Being in the present moment can help with reducing your tendencies to be over perfectionistic. Often times, striving for perfectionism comes with a fair amount of anxiety and fear of potential outcomes. When you are truly living in the present your anxiety about potential failures in the future is significantly reduced and will make you less obsessed with perfection. Practicing mindfulness and meditation are great tools to make you feel more present.
I hope some of these ideas on how to let go of perfectionism have inspired you, and that you too can rid yourself of the idea of perfect and let yourself flow and create rather than obsessing about outcome.
