I had been planning to start a business for years and then one day I’d had enough.
I was sitting in my living room listening to a podcast on the topic of ‘fear and failure’. I was designing my website for the 100th time, most likely overthinking the colors and fonts for the 12th month in a row, when I heard this sentence “Perfectionism is a serial killer. […] I don’t want to go to my grave with 50 unfinished pages in the drawer. There’s enough of that in the world.“
That, my friend, was the voice of reason and the author of Eat, Pray Love, and Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert.
Realizations and Resolutions
Her words spoke to me and this was the day I realized perfectionism was killing me. It was killing my creativity and my ability to take real action on what truly matters.
I decided this would be the year I stopped thinking and planning and only took action. I had spent months if not years planning, planning and then planning some more on how to start a business. I’d completely overthink, and overanalyze what sort of business I would start. More often than not, I’d count on every single bump in the road and how it could go wrong then successfully talk myself out of it. (Wo) Man! Was I good at that? Like many women, I was less encouraged by success and more discouraged by failure.
I also believed that to start a business there were all these obstacles, and milestones I needed to achieve first. Instead of addressing what I truly wanted to do, I’d convince myself that I wasn’t quite good enough just yet and that I first needed to achieve x,y, and z.
Unfortunately, this is not how the world works. Because if it was ‘Wooo’ would I be here to tell you how I made my first million! In reality, I’m here to tell you the 5 things that helped me overcome perfectionism and start before I was ready.
Five Strategies to Overcome Perfectionism
1. Forgive Yourself For Where You Are Now
Of course, you don’t have all the answers when you first start. Nothing you create the first time around will be close to perfect. Allow yourself to be in that place and know that everyone starting new creative projects feels the exact same way. Learn to embrace imperfection.
2. Give It 100% Of Your Available Capacity
No one can consistently operate on 100%, not even pro athletes. So if today you’re at 25% then put 100% of that effort into your work. Doing a little bit of the right tasks every day will move your creative projects forward.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour” – John Heywood, Playwright
3. Prioritize Your Rocks
Trying to fit rocks, pebbles, and sand into an empty jar is a frequently used metaphor for prioritization. Your rocks are a metaphor for your most important tasks, and if you don’t start with them your less important tasks, your sand and pebbles, take up all the room. So, if you have spent 2 months designing your logo and only 2 days building your audience, it’s time to re-prioritize and stop procrastinating due to perfectionism.
4. Clarity Comes From Action
You can be like me one year ago and think and think and think some more, in the hope of achieving clarity. Or you can start taking action today and gain clarity from what you learn and the actions you take.
5. Stop Creating Hurdles
You don’t need to create a to-do list of the thousand other things you “have to do” (according to no one else but your imagination) BEFORE you can launch your creative project. You will never be an expert, because even if you have 10 years of experience, there’s going to be another person with 20 years that you’ll never catch up to.
In the words of Marie Forleo, “Everything is Figuroutable” my friend. So you might as well join me on this challenge of making the next 12 months your year of action. The year you start before you’re ready (and don’t you dare wait until January)!
