Why perfectionists are doomed....

Why Perfectionists Rarely Win in Life

Perfectionist sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

It’s a trait that a lot of people respect.

In reality however, perfectionism is a curse!

In this newsletter, we uncover why.

Firstly, there is this:

Like I said, the term perfectionism sounds good.

When people use the term, it’s usually insecurity at work behind the scenes. It’s like someone saying “I don’t feel good enough, so I will only present any of my work to the world when it’s “perfect” in my eyes.

Hoping of course that this deflects any perceived judgment.

Or to put it more bluntly:

Perfectionism is little more than a socially accepted term for insecurity.

How can you work on this?

For starters, it’s key to figure out where this is coming from.

The method for this is too much to explain here, but it’s something I cover in my free confidence BootCamp. Since you’re part of my community, here’s the direct link to watch the lesson (no opt in required).

If you ever feel low-confidence or insecure, it’s a must-watch for you!

Great > Perfect

The second reason perfectionism holds people back is a lack of progress.

There have been multiple experiments done to highlight this.

In these experiments, the groups (usually students) get split into two groups. One group is told to submit only 1, perfect piece of work (photo, piece of art, essay, etc.). The other group gets graded purely on the sheer volume of submissions they make.

Can you guess the outcome?

Time and time again, the best results do NOT come from the “quality” group.

Instead, they come from the people who are producing the most.

Why is this the case?

The reason for this is that perfectionism makes us slower than a turtle in hiberation. The “perfectionist” will spend insane amounts of time on a single piece of work.

Meanwhile, smart people will have 2, 3, 6 or 10 times the output of a perfectionist.

They get to practice.
They get to collect feedback.
They make way more mistakes.
They learn from those mistakes
They can improve 1 bit at a time.

And as a result they learn the skill WAY faster!

Always strive for Progress over perfection!

And here’s what will happen:

Because you’re focused on doing, you learn insanely fast. In time your regular work will be better than your “perfect” work (if you stayed a perfectionist)!

Here’s an example:

The other day, I watched an interview with Mr Beast (the biggest YouTuber there is right now). In that interview he shared the secret to his success:

He started creating content when he was 14.

He didn’t consider his videos to be good until he had made ~1000 videos!

Let that sink in for a moment.

Meanwhile, other “YouTubers” give up after 10 videos, or 20, or 50.

They never get enough repetition to get great at whatever it is they are creating.

People greatly underestimate the amount of repetition required to become amazing at something. They don’t realize that any master has failed WAY more than 99% of people have even tried!

Don’t be like them!

Do your best, don’t deliver crap.

But focus on doing more!
Make more mistakes!
Beat procrastination!
Put yourself out there!

Double your rate of failure and you double your rate of success!

What does this image mean to you?

Really think about this for a moment and ask yourself about the meaning.

Got it?

Here’s the lesson I want you to draw:

Because we’re in our own heads literally 24/7, we tend to think that we are the hero of our own story (and we are). However to other people you are nothing more than one of the tiny background characters!

Guess what?

They feel the same way!

In THEIR lives, they are the heroes.

They care about their problems.
Their goals.
Their insecurities.
Their loved ones.

Trust me when I say the amount of actual judgment people have for you in only a tiny fraction of how much you think it is inside of your own mind!

Are you a pessimist or an optimist?

You can take this lesson to mean that you’re completely meaningless and that nobody cares about you. Or you can take it to mean that it’s okay to try and fail, because nobody is judging you nearly as harshly as you are yourself.

Your call.

Additional Content Around Perfectionism & Progress
Allow me to pound this key lesson from Mr Beast into you.

Action Step for Today

My advice is incredibly simple:

Produce!

Whatever it is that you do, spend your time doing it. Put in the hours, practice, do more, put it out there into the world (scary? Cool, do it anyway). Do whatever it takes for you to feel proud of yourself at the end of the day!

 Optimize for that feeling!

I can tell you, at the end of the day there isn’t a better one than knowing that you have done everything in your power to contribute to your ideal life!

Go make that happen champ!