Letting Go of Perfection
As a coach, I get to work with highly motivated professionals who consistently produce results in complicated situations.
I see a common issue with my clients when we begin working together. They often share that they are feeling frustrated, lost, or miserable with how things are going. But know that they can do better for themselves.
My clients receive my support in the process of coaching. I do this by asking questions and sharing scientifically proven strategies to build confidence and resilience. When needed, I challenge them with healthy doses of tough love. Furthermore, I hold my clients accountable for the goals they set.
The quest for perfection – One of the most common personal stressors.
After hundreds of hours of coaching busy professionals, I noticed that one of the most common stressors is the quest for perfection.
Often they are stressed out and frustrated because they cannot get themselves or other people to conform to their highest expectations. They say things like:
- “I’m amazed I get anything done in a day with everyone making demands of my time.”
- “I need to do more to prove myself.”
- “I’m constantly putting out fires and never seem to get to the work I need to do.”
- “I need more hours in the day.”
- “If you want something done right, you might as well do it yourself.”
The thing that fuels my passion for coaching is witnessing the transformations that people achieve when they commit to looking at their lives differently.
After clients start using my proven techniques, the dialogue with my clients starts to transform:
- “Oh my goodness, after we spoke last week, this amazing thing happened.”
- “I got clarity on something I’ve been struggling with for years.”
- “I couldn’t figure out how to respond to this mess before, and now I have picked my path, I’m so confident, and my business is taking off.”
My clients get these results quickly because they are open to letting go of perfection. They let go of the idea that someday some external force will change your life for the better. They stop waiting for others to do what they think they “should” do.
In order to move forward beyond my burnout cycle, I had to release perfection too.
I very much wanted things to be a certain way, and I wanted to be the best version of everything, which is part of why I worked so many long hours. You cannot build forward momentum toward your goals if you are looking for perfection. A wise person once told me:
“Perfection is the enemy of progress.”
Some successful artists, like Monet, have said they didn’t love their most acclaimed works because that wasn’t the best version they think they could’ve produced.
Think about all the joy and inspiration we would have missed out on if Monet had held his work back or destroyed it for not being perfect.
Even though they felt they could’ve done better, they didn’t let that notion of perfection stop them from taking action to put their work out there.