10 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Strive For Perfection
/Perfectionism is a major problem in today's society. We see it everywhere, from the way we dress to how we do our hair and makeup.
But what about when perfectionism starts to affect your work? It can be a serious issue if you're trying to finish projects and are never satisfied with the outcome. In this blog post, I will share 10 reasons why you shouldn't strive for perfection.
What It Means to Strive for Perfection
So what does strive for perfection really mean? It means that you are holding yourself to a higher standard. You want or need, to do your best and give it your all in whatever endeavor is on the table.
You strive with everything you have to be perfect for something. And if there’s one thing we can strive towards without being discouraged by our inevitable imperfections, it should be excellence instead of perfection.
10 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Strive For Perfection
1. It's impossible to strive for perfection.
It’s not possible, because humans are by nature imperfect beings. We make mistakes and we have bad days. And if you set a high standard of perfection that is unattainable, then you will always be striving and never satisfied with your place in life.
2. There are always going to be things that you can't control, so it's better to focus on what you want instead of what you don't want.
We often try to perfect situations that we have no control over, like our relationships and the way people treat us. This can lead to frustration when things don't go according to plan or expectations.
Trying to be in charge of everyone else's actions is simply not possible--you'll just end up resenting them and yourself instead. Instead, make a list of what you want from others as well as what you would do if they did those actions automatically with little effort on your part. Then strive for it!
3. Perfectionism can be a major obstacle for creative people.
Many of us strive to be perfect in the way that we respond, think and act.
This can lead to feeling like you're not good enough, which is a major obstacle for creative people--the worst thing on earth for an artist!
Strive instead for progress by giving yourself lots of time to do what's important first before getting distracted with minor details or unnecessary tasks (e.g., checking your social media feeds).
4. We're all human, so we don't need to strive for perfection.
The average human will make around 300 mistakes in a day.
We're all going to mess up sometimes, so it's better to strive for progress than perfectionism. Otherwise, we'll have 300 reasons that you should strive for perfect--and not just the ten I've listed here!
It's not possible, because humans are by nature imperfect beings. We make mistakes and we have bad days. And if you set a high standard of perfection that is unattainable, then you will always be striving and never satisfied with your place in life.
5. It doesn't work when you're under pressure.
It's hard to strive for perfection and be flexible at the same time, so it may not happen in times of crisis or emergency. The circumstances will dictate what needs to get done first--not your need for that perfect outcome.
If you mistakenly strive towards a goal that is no longer possible then there are serious consequences (e.g., missed deadlines). Sometimes coping with change means adapting as opposed to trying harder than ever before. You'll fail again--and end up even more frustrated!
6. It takes away from what matters most
When people strive too much for perfectionism, they tend to do things like check their social media feeds and use Facebook or Instagram more often because they want everything on their profile to be perfect, which is counterproductive if your goal is actually accomplishing something meaningful with your life.
This means that striving for perfection can take time and energy away from what really matters most
7.Striving for perfection can make you feel like a fraud.
It's true, there are those days when people strive so hard to be perfect that they spend too much time feeling fraudulent--as if they don't deserve success because of their imperfections. It doesn't matter how many times we strive towards something else or at least try our best, it never feels good enough and always leaves us feeling inadequate as humans trying to achieve the unachievable goal of perfectionism!
8.Perfectionists tend to fear failure more than others do, which is stressful in itself.
Perfectionists tend not only worry about failing to reach whatever standard has been set for them but also what other people might think of them.
This is a huge source of stress and anxiety--even if they strive for any type of perfectionism, it's not good enough because the fear of failure is so great that their performance suffers as a result!
9. Perfectionists tend to be unhappy more often than others are.
In general, perfectionists have been found to experience unhappiness on more days in comparison with those who strive less and live life naturally (i.e., without trying too hard). They're constantly comparing themselves with others who seem to achieve things better or faster than they do due to their lack of imperfections which makes them feel even worse about themselves and can lead to depression, among other serious conditions
10. It's nearly impossible to get everything done that needs to be done, so it's better to strive for progress instead.
To strive for perfection more often than not leads people into procrastination - a place where they never make any progress because they're waiting until their work is perfect before presenting anything.
They have this mistaken idea that if they don't strive for perfection then their work will be subpar and people won't take them seriously or value the effort they put in. The thing about striving for perfection is you can always do better which means as soon as your task is finished you feel like it isn't good enough...and on and on we go! This creates an endless loop of dissatisfaction with one’s work.
If you strive for progress instead then it becomes about getting things done - not how good they look while you're doing them which opens up space for creativity and satisfaction with what's being accomplished rather than whether or not your work looks like a masterpiece.
Final Thoughts
If you're one of the many people who strive for perfectionism, it's time to let go and work towards progress instead.
The idea that striving for perfection will result in a flawless final product is nothing more than an illusion--you'll never reach your goal because there are always ways to make things better!
Striving for external validation and trying too hard creates a cycle of unhappiness with what you do which leads to procrastination and taking longer than necessary on tasks.
If you strive for progress instead, it becomes about getting things done and less about how good they look while you're doing them. We hope these 10 points have helped you realize the benefits of striving for progress instead and if they have, please share this post with others who might feel that way too!