Do You Feel Your Work is Not a Masterpiece: You NEED this pill for your Perfection Syndrome.

Step out and Overcome your fear of mediocrity.

For whatever we wanted to do in our life, IF, instead of chasing that perfection we had actually started to do things (even imperfectly) then we would have been standing in a totally different growth stage now.

When I was a school kid my mother wanted me to understand large literature pieces and to learn all the math formulas so that I do good in exams.

When there were sports or cultural events, she wanted me to participate in as many events as possible and win trophies.

When I played in the neighbourhood my mother wanted me to be one of the best in the street.

There was nothing wrong with her expectations. She wanted her child to be a shining star. Somewhere deep in her heart, she was pursuing perfectionism as a trait for her child to be noticed.

We grew up in a world where perfectionism is worshiped. Someday Mr. X from the neighborhood will drop by your home and tell you how his child is achieving big things (in whatever field he is in). Someday Mrs. Y will meet you in the local market and tell you how Mr. So and So is doing great in Such and Such area.

It is everywhere. You see the people all around you doing great work. This pricks you into action but this also makes you think whether you can reach the standard already set.

You have your doubts that nobody answers.

Before you even start you think of doing better than others. But, how many times do you start a work with the aim to become better than your previous self?

The Invisible Truth is that Perfection is Unattainable

No matter how much you try there will be something missing from your piece of work, or performance and there will always be someone who would say that there is scope for improvement. Even you, yourself may find it true sometimes.

When we think of nothing less than perfect results, we cease to enjoy the milestone we have already achieved. We want to be the epitome of perfection; we stop enjoying seemingly small happy moments.

And as a worse addition to your chaos, this mindset works the opposite way and you start losing motivation. You will start thinking that you cannot perform the task well enough as others do so why try at all? Instead of improving your previous self, you will think of giving up.

This is the problem we are facing today in masses. For want of perfection, we even do not dare to try.

So, from today try to delete the word “Perfection” from your dictionary. Be cool enough to say “Perfection? What is that?”

If Perfection is unattainable then what to do? Make Friends with Consistency and do not Worship Results

Consistency pushes us forward. I wanted to run a marathon. A full Marathon. I will plan for a morning run and when I will wake up my mind will tell me that I have only 30–40 mins for running before I have to get ready for college. I will think about what I am going to practice in this little time and I will postpone. Some mornings I will go for that practice run but I will not push much. I will think of days when I will have more and more time for running so that I can practice as per the demand of the Run.

I was missing the truth.

Years passed like this and nothing happened. I did not run even in an event for 10 KM. Many years later I acknowledged myself as an ultimate procrastinator and I decided to change things. I decided to give it a try, A REAL TRY. I started going for a practice run even if was as less as 2 KM.

I started to increase my distance and was improving day by day. Progress was happening not because of any great influence from outside but because I was not bothered about the full race at the start of my practice. I was not bothered about perfection. I started taking small steps. Small imperfect consistent steps were taking me closer to what it takes to run a full marathon. In January 2023, it was Tata Mumbai Marathon and I was standing at the finish line. Exhausted but Elated.

Expectations will only weigh you down. Think otherwise of the societal norms. Do not take everything as do or die. You are not always in a war zone. Live light and make friends with consistency.

Whatever you do try to devote regular time to it. Things are possible. When we start working towards them, we start finding ways.

As often said: When your Why is clear, you will find the How.

From Today, start taking small steps. Do not think of results day and night. Think about how you are becoming better every day and the progress you want to achieve tomorrow.

How to make it Interesting? Start enjoying the small achievements.

At the early stage of my career, I was not very serious about growth. Most of us are not. I was just in the enjoyment phase that comes when you are financially independent. I knew that I can buy things, plan vacations, and spend money on whatever thing I wanted. This gave my happiness quotient a boast. Although I was rarely spending money indiscriminately, just having the option of doing all that I wanted, made me happy. I was enjoying small things.

Then life happened I started becoming serious about my future prospects. Good! One should do that. But it took cheers out of the equation. I started contemplating everything and started postponing celebrations till I become the hero I wanted to become.

It took me two promotions at my work to make me realize that life was broadly the same even after sitting on the chair I was chasing. But I had to change the journey. I had removed the happiness and celebrations from my life that I lived to reach there. When I looked back, I saw my serious face indulged in work never giving time for appreciating the things around me.

That day I decided to enjoy life for whatever it takes. I know that my future is important but I now also know that I have to enjoy my today also. If I do not learn to enjoy my today, I will not enjoy any day in my life.

If you do not enjoy the journey, you will find that the destination was not as exciting a place as you assumed to be. It is the progress that makes us happy every day during our journey. Remember how you enjoy hitting the GYM because you look forward to measuring yourself on the weighing scale and seeing the muscles you are building. Imagine what a boring place it will appear if you remove the measurements and all the mirrors around.

Conclusion: Be the Consistent Imperfectionist and Win your World

• If you feel that ditching up your concepts of perfectionism will help you grow then you can level up your game by doing the following.
• Start the thing you want to do and do not think about the results. Take it as an experiment. Assimilate that the results do not matter to you, the efforts do.
• Delete the word “Perfection” from your dictionary. If it is hard, do it with the intention to put it back after some time. I know it is not a physical thing that you can put somewhere. Tell your mind in a way that suits you.
• Take small imperfect actions and you will see yourself improving. Be it writing a book, excelling in a sport, or progressing in your career. Whatever it is, your consistent actions will push you forward.
• Remember that you will learn by yourself over time and your actions will start refining themselves. They will become more appropriate over time and you will be standing at the point you wanted to reach before you know it.
• If Competition is what you like then compete with yourself. Become a better person every day.
• You will not be able to keep showing up if you do not enjoy the small achievements during the journey. Appreciate things in your life. You do not want a grand day to celebrate. You have one life and you do not want to spend it always wearing a grim face. SMILE and BREATHE every day.