Overcoming The Perfectionist Problem. On beating inertia. Prompting for Clarity.
Taking action toward the goal is great because you’re moving, you’re building toward it. If all you do is plan, plan, plan, and never do anything, you’re not going anywhere. This is the perfectionist paradox. Perfectionists get caught in the ‘perfect’ inertia. They are so terrified of making mistakes and looking bad in front of others that they end up doing nothing. They take no action. They Sit on the sidelines and wonder what it must be like to have serious momentum toward what they want. Would you rather be a fan sitting in the stands or be playing in the arena?
For top performers, it is really easy to read, study, research, read, study, research because that’s been what most of us have done throughout school. Sure, we did stuff, took tests, wrote papers, but the bulk of the work was research. This was the default — not taking action. Not trying new things. Not taking creative risks. Not marching toward our goals every day through action. That’s what makes it difficult to be in a real world startup — it’s all experimentation. It’s all testing and trying. Testing and trying. Testing and trying new things. You’re always testing and trying. You won’t know what sticks until. You test and iterate. Try it. Make the default action.
It is a great metaphor for the Creative because Creatives are always trying new things at the canvas. It’s all experimentation. It’s all testing and wondering whether this thing will work. It’s all about making mistakes. It’s all about practice and learning. That’s one of the primary goals of work: learning. People don’t think about it much, but we’re typically always learning at work. Learning should be a creative focus of our work. We should be learning the job we’re currently working, and we should be learning the type of work that will advance our career because nobody wants to be stuck in the same job for 30 years, doing the same things. Therefore, skill development is on us to built up to wherever we want to go next. We should take skill building seriously.
It is really easy to get stuck in the inertia of life, doing the same things over and over again. Thus, our rote habits. These happen both at work and at home even at play. We do the very same things. When was the last time you tried to do something for the first time? When was the last time you tried something new? A new approach? A new food? A new hobby? A new city? Trying the new can be a great way to shake you out of a rote slump. Don’t just drop everything good you got and move to NYC. No. Just take action on trying something new to you. A new routine. A new behavior. A new workout. Maybe even a new job you’ve been aiming for. What does that look like to you? How does that feel? The new scares a lot of people so much it scares them right back into inertia, the default of what we’ve always done. Yet there’s no growth there. There is only the same old, same old. If you want to live a more exciting life, you have to take the steps to shake things up a bit. Reasonably. Purposefully. With intent. Start with intention because everything starts with intention.
Starting with intention means starting with performance prompts.
Who do you want to be today? How do you want the day to feel? If you could change one thing about today, what would it be? What excites you today? What cool, positive thing could get more of your attention while some negative not cool thing could get less of it? Where do you see yourself going? What can you create or build today that might help someone else? What do you want them to say about you when you’re not around? Will what you’re working on today help to build your legacy?
These prompts are designed to get to the crux of who you want to be today and into the future. They’re designed to help you find clarity. Clarity is found through intention of who we want to be today and what will garner our attention today. Clarity is the gift we give ourselves and those around us. Clarity is the driving force behind what we want. Clarity about who we are generates confidence. And our clear, congruent actions follow.
That’s the best part about clarity: you take confident, congruent action toward your goals to make you more of what you want to become. It is a nonstop process of discovery, creative, self discovery. Because we’re creating our future selves every day through action and habit, not thought. You are not your job title. You are what you repeatedly do. If you seek confidence, start with intention, then your next best action. And then take that action. Do it no matter what. Then, do it again and again until it becomes ingrained, default. This is the essence of behavior change, which is hard for us. Yet tons of people do this every day. It all starts with intention. And then taking action toward what we want.
The key is to do it before you are ready because you won’t think you’re ever ready. Not ready for the next step. Not ready for the next job. Not ready for the new career. Decide what you want through prompting intentions and then take the steps to go get after it. No one is ever going to tell you you’re ready now, that the coast is clear, that the planets have aligned, that you get the green light. You have to decide this for yourself. /When/ is up to you. There typically is no better time to start than right now. Start with intention. Answer the future you questions. Think about what future self version would make you most proud? Decide who you want to be. And then go get after it.
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