"I'm careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence I can strive for; perfection is God's business."

Michael J. Fox

One definition of excellence is "the quality of being outstanding or extremely good." Notice how there is no mention of perfection. Outstanding and extremely good work shows that you are thorough by covering all the bases, competent and even anticipating problems that may arise, but it is not humanly possible to think of every conceivable problem that may occur. Never being satisfied with your work and expecting perfection may lead to health and relationship issues such as depression, anxiety, anger or obsessive compulsive disorder.

So, how do you know if you have crossed over the threshold of excellence into the world of perfection?

• You never feel satisfied by your work...there is always something else you could do to improve (this is not to be confused with continues improvement processes)
• You continually find yourself working up to the last minute or missing deadlines
• You procrastinate starting projects because your standard of work is unrealistic            
• You disagree with the phrase, "Done is better than perfect."
• You anger quickly when others don't perform at your level which often leads to your unwillingness to delegate tasks to others
• You believe there is a right way and a wrong way to do things

So, how do we end up being perfectionists? While a portion of your perfectionist behavior may be genetic, there are many environmental factors that may have influenced your desire for perfectionism. According to the book, When Perfect Isn't Good Enough, by Martin Anthony and Richard Swinson the following reasons may contribute to perfectionism.

• Overly critical parents or others that role modeled perfectionism
• Parents, teacher and friends rewarded you with compliments or awards for perfectionist work
• Parents, teachers and friends punished you for work that was not perfect through critical comments, grades or negative consequences, i.e., not giving you attention.

This is not to say that we should blame others for our perfectionism but it may explain where it all began. So, how can we learn to let go of perfectionism and accept excellence?

• Journal you thoughts and beliefs so you can see them for what they are....limiting. Many perfectionists feel a need to be liked by everyone. This thinking can lead to perfectionism because you don't want to disappoint anyone but this expectation is unrealistic.

• Find a way to take yourself less seriously. In other words, introduce yourself to humor and play. Discover what makes you laugh and observe how the imperfections of being human will produce joy in your life and allow you to make authentic connections with others. 

• Identify that there are numerous ways to complete a project or task and rarely is there just one way.

Question for You:

Do you find yourself spending too much time on projects or tasks because you are never satisfied with your work or the work of others? Do you believe there is one right or wrong way to do most everything? Are you a poor delegator because no one can really do it as well as you can?

Answer for You:

Perfectionism has the ability to make you better at whatever you try but the downside of constantly striving for perfectionism may be devastating to your mental and emotional well-being by increasing your anxiety, anger and compulsiveness. Write down the beliefs you hold whenever you are feeling anxious or angry and see if those beliefs are helping you or hurting you most of the time. Find ways to play at work and at home so you allow humor and imperfection into your life. And finally identify the multitude of ways to complete a task so that you are free to know there is rarely one way to do anything.

"Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly."

Robert Schuller

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