Are you a perfectionist?
I think many entrepreneurs are at least to a point.
Most of us know an entrepreneur or two that started a service or product because what was out there didn’t meet their standards.
Maybe that describes your situation and business.
That’s a positive form of perfectionism as it turns out.
I recently read a post about a study on perfectionism.
Good Perfectionism
The study found that there are two different types of perfectionism. The one that leads to positive outcomes, which I would think include a successful business and a happy life led, is about doing something because you want that something to be perfect. You’re driven to make the perfect widget or to make a process as efficient as possible.
When you set really high goals for yourself and work towards those it’s a good thing. If you enjoy the process or the grind as it’s sometimes referred to you’ll often have success.
That type of drive comes from within. You have to enjoy the daily life of being an entrepreneur and the daily work while working toward your ultimate goal.
Bad Perfectionism
On the flip side, though, is perfectionism that’s driven by fear and anxiety.
If you’re worried about reaching impossible heights and about making mistakes it leads to negative outcomes. If you’re worried about letting people down and that drives you to be perfect it leads to negative outcomes.
Part of being an entrepreneur is being challenged and enjoying what you’re doing. You don’t have to love it like it’s your passion and you’re having fun, but it should be a positive on your life. There is no point in doing something that will bring you down each day.
Obviously there will be ups and downs, but overall you have to enjoy the grind and the process of reaching your goals.
You can’t worry about letting others down. You can’t worry about making mistakes.
Setting Your Goals
Keep your mind focused on your goal. Or create a goal if you don’t have one. Then you can better make decisions each day about how you can work toward that goal.
And the goal shouldn’t be fear related like, “I don’t want to live on the streets.”
It should be something like, “I want to have a fund that provides an income to support the lifestyle I want.”
It’s a subtle difference, but when you’re focused on fear-based goals you’ll add stress to your life. That leads to health issues and emotional issues and you’ll struggle to move forward and to succeed with your business.
Final Thought
I like golf and my goal is to become a scratch golfer. That’s actually an intermediate goal. I’ve struggled in the past because in golf it’s hard to not have the goal to hit bad shots. When you’re driven to not hit bad shots the bad shots you do hit will be more stressful and painful. And it’s hard to move forward with progress.
But if you focus on getting better and hitting good shots those become the focus and it’s easier to ignore the bad shots and keep working toward the goal.
Mistakes are part of the process to reach your goal.
it’s okay to be a perfectionist, but let the goal drive you and not the fear.