4 Reasons Not to be a Perfectionist
More often than you’d think, good enough is good enough.
My best friend’s father told me a story about someone who remodels houses. The details of the scenario aren’t necessary, but it ended up that the guy who hired him happened to walk in at the exact moment he says out loud, “Good enough for who it’s for!”
Several initial thoughts raced through my mind, though, and the first one was, “Did he get fired?!”
(I really have no idea; I was laughing too hard to ask!)
Wow, that guy is really lazy!
He obviously has no respect for the guy he’s working for!
Worse, he certainly doesn’t care about his workmanship.
I’m a control freak when it comes to my work and I take pride in my accomplishments and efforts. The thought of stopping short of “I know I can make this better” seemed so foreign to me! Then again, I had to remember that my trade isn’t his trade. I know what I’m doing and he knows what he’s doing. Ultimately, I started asking myself a different set of questions:
Could he have just worked 15 hours and was tired?
What part of the house is it — will it cause major leaks and fall down?
There are hundreds of behind-the-scenes short cuts…is this one critical?
Watch any episode of This Old House or Ask This Old House and you’ll quickly learn the difference between perfectionism and laziness in the remodeling arena! Then I came to notice how many times this statement popped into my head during daily activities in life and I drew some different conclusions:
1) Helps Me Pick My Battles and Reduce Perfectionism
Is every little detail of every single thing going to matter? In my work as a project manager, there are several aspects of a project that are critical. Some, not so much. If I find I’ve spent a good deal of time on something that doesn’t quite seem to fit and ultimately won’t help me reach the objective right this second, I can let it go for the time being. Sometimes I just need to put it down for a while and revisit it later, but being able to say, “this part is good enough” goes a long way in prioritizing. To me, it’s the essential decision between “critical to have” and “nice to have”.
2) Reminds Me to Consider My Audience
Gift wrapping paper! I’m all for a gorgeous presentation for birthdays and at Christmas. But is a young child really going to notice the difference between cheaper wrapping paper and thicker, nicer wrapping paper? Better yet…newspaper! Of course not! Plus, kids are just going to rip it to shreds anyway.
This is a big one for me to maintain equal ground. Just because something is important to me doesn’t mean it’s important to everyone else, and vice versa. People like things how they like things. Yes, I am guilty of believing my way is the right way and the only way sometimes!! It can be an effort to set aside my way of doing things and in those times, I remember to respect different perspectives. I’ve learned that if I trust other viewpoints rather than defend my own, keeping the “my way meter” in check not only goes a long way in taking undue stress out of the equation, it also allows me to grow. And in this day and age of everyone being overwhelmed and crazy busy, I’ve gotten more comfortable telling myself that’s one less thing I have to do.
3) Allows Me to Focus on What is Most Important to Me
I have the same 24 hours as everyone else. As an introvert, I love my down time more than most. I believe in quality over quantity and there is a time and a place for everything. Yes, it’s great to get dressed up and have nice dinners at fancy places, but at other times, I’m tired and just want to throw my hair up in a pony tail and go. McDonald’s is just fine as long as we get to laugh together! I like to relate it to this saying I heard a long time ago: I love The Dollar Store!! I don’t have to dress up like I do when I go to Wal-Mart!!!
4) Helps Me Relax and Not Be So Worried About What My Condo Looks Like!
Does my place really have to be spotless 24/7 and when someone comes over?? Don’t get me wrong…I’m hugely distinguishing between “filth” and “clutter”! Lysol Wipes are my best cleaning pal, I’m not a fan of dust on my tables, and I love running my vacuum consistently. For the ever-accumulating paperwork and miscellaneous clutter, it will suffice to toss it all in the second bedroom last-minute and wah-lah…presentable!! Mom and Dad get the “white glove” treatment (most of the time). Everyone else will just have to understand! Sometimes, I can easily tell myself that it’s better than it was and as good as it gets!
Life is short.
In the great grand scheme of things, there are times to decide between the important things and the critically important things. I’m certainly not implying that people should start slacking off. I’m simply suggesting that we can take into consideration how hard we all work and there are times when it could be appropriate to allow yourself the freedom to once in a while say, “I’d love to, but I’d rather not…it’s good enough for who it’s for!”
Thanks for reading! And remember — Smart people read. Smarter people write!
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