In many ways, perfectionism can seem like an admirable quality to have. We often value things that are “impeccable” or “unimpeachable” or in other words seem to be perfect. The constant striving for perfection, however, can not only wear you down and exhaust you, but it can also actually hinder your growth. If left unchecked for too long, it can even stall your career entirely. Here are 3 ways of keeping perfectionism from paralyzing your career.
- Always remember there is no success without failure
Almost every successful Hollywood actor, producer or director has at least one miserable failure under their belt and many have several. What every single one of them would most likely tell you, however, is that they probably learned far more from those failures than they ever did from their successes. Those failures were often the result of trying something new or pushing new boundaries. While the endeavor itself may not have been successful, chances are good that same willingness to take risks is what made them successful in their career.
- Know when to let go and move on
Sometimes, the harder you try to fix something, the worse it gets. In some cases, literally the only solution is to salvage what you can, let it go and start from scratch. This is true in art, business, relationships and almost every other aspect of life. At some point in time, you are just spinning your wheels trying to fix something that is doomed, so learn to take a loss and move on. In most cases, you won’t start at square one because what you take with you is the wisdom and experience you gained from the endeavor.
- Learn to give the best that you have to give in that moment
As human beings, we have bad days and good days. We have seasons that feel like we are carrying the weight of the world and seasons where we feel we could leap tall buildings in a single bound. Conversely, however, we bring something different to the table in each season. A middle-aged mother might not have as much time or energy to give to a project as she did in her youth, but she brings keen insight, wisdom and experience. A young manager may make a lot more mistakes than a veteran manager, but he also brings fresh insight and vision.