Entrepreneurs, business owners, professionals of all kinds tend to be perfectionists. Everything must be perfect, whether it be something attributed to their business or personal life. This is due to the fact that these types of people are hard working, driven, goal oriented individuals. It is a wonderful thing to want to do your very best at every single thing you do, but this path to perfectionism can come with some very serious side effects. Striving for perfection in every aspect of your life will simply drive you crazy. You are adding more stress to an already stressful life, and you are more than likely not giving yourself any chance to rest.
The Effects of Perfectionism
You just heard that perfectionism leads to stress, but what does that really mean? Well, stress lowers your immune system so that you are less able to fight off illness. No one likes to be sick, sure, but this also means you will be unable to complete your massive to-do list. Over time, high amounts of stress on a consistent basis can lead to the development of a variety of anxiety-related disorders. Just a few of these include Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Panic Disorder, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder, amongst others.
Don’t Stress The Small Stuff
The key thing to remember is that “good enough” is usually good enough. There is no reason to stress the small stuff. Let’s look at your personal life, for example. If you leave a dish or two in the sink, it’s no big deal. If you can only do the floors three times a week instead of every day, it’s no big deal. This can be applied to your professional life as well. There is no need to spend hours memorizing an entire presentation. Instead you may want to try memorizing only the major details and going with the flow for the rest of it. This helps you to better adapt your presentation for questions which may come up as well. If your desk isn’t spotless, that’s okay. If you are only on schedule instead of ahead of schedule, that’s fine too. Don’t stress the small stuff and you will see a major difference.
Conclusion
“Good enough” really is good enough. If you try your best instead of striving for perfectionism, you will see a very big difference in your life. Knowing that your best is good enough can help to alleviate a ton of stress, which is dangerous for your health. This will also help enable you to live a happier, healthier life overall. In the long run forgetting about perfectionism will actually help you to do better at everything you do.
