Perfectionism is Bad For You

I used to be a perfectionist, and it damaged me in more than one way. Over the years I have recognized this problem, and I am almost getting over it. But one step back, what is perfectionism? Quoting Wikipedia:

Perfectionism, in psychology, is a belief that perfection can and should be attained. In its pathological form, perfectionism is a belief that work or output that is anything less than perfect is unacceptable. At such levels, this is considered an unhealthy belief, and psychologists typically refer to such individuals as maladaptive perfectionists.

When you behave with perfectionism, you basically want to make things perfect, or not make them at all. Why is this bad for you? Because more often than not you will get blocked and paralyzed if you try to make things perfect. Even if you manage to make them perfect at one point, it might be too late to reap the rewards from it.

Practically speaking, how can perfectionism affect you badly on the Internet? In several ways, here are some examples:

You might never launch that website you had planned just because you can’t seem to find the perfect structure for it
You might spend too much time tweaking your design because you want to make it perfect, and on the mean while you neglect the content part which is far more important
You might never publish that big article just because you can’t seem to make it perfect and ready to be published
You might end up never trying that money making idea because it is not perfect and could not work out

You get the idea. Striving for excellence is a good thing, but you should realize that this will come along the way and from constant trial and error and adaptions. If you always try to get it perfected right from the beginning, you will get blocked and paralyzed.

In other words: Start with anything that is good enough, and improve it from there.

Daniel Scocco on October 11, 2008 Subscribe to our RSS Feed

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30 Responses to “Perfectionism is Bad For You”

Matej on October 11th, 2008 11:18 am

Oh my God, I’m total perfectionist and I hate myself because of it. Nothing ( well, almost) is good enough for me, in life or online, I always want something …. highest.

Sometimes these goals are to high for me, sometimes I don’t make enough effort to accomplish them because it’s maybe to hard at the moment, but I don’t want less so I ….. stuck up

In “online world”, when I want to make something better - in some cases I ruin it, or schedule it for later because it’s not good enough and I don’t have knowledge to make it better ( example: site design ).
TechZoomIn on October 11th, 2008 11:21 am

Little confusing but perfect… i observed it with myself too..

ending line touchd daniel :Start with anything that is good enough, and improve it from there
Dan @ PowerDosh.com on October 11th, 2008 11:29 am

I used to have this problem, but I’ve minimised the effect it has on me and my life considerably. I started finding that I actually finished projects and had more time!
Vygantas on October 11th, 2008 11:35 am

I love perfectionism. Especially when I’m designing something. It takes me from 2-3 months to finish a web design. But once I’m done… Everyone LOVES it. I do till I like myself.

“You might end up never trying that money making idea because it is not perfect and could not work out”

It’s more lack of belief in yourself.
Yuen on October 11th, 2008 11:50 am

I behaving with Perfectionism.
I don’t think Perfectionism is sickness, it isn’t bad at all too
I think so… and if we could manage it well with time we have, it’s not bad.
Jani on October 11th, 2008 12:51 pm

I’ve experienced everything you mentioned in the last month, and it still keeps coming, but finally I feel I can get over it. Thanks for the post, it gave me some reassuring.

By the way, if someone is not the perfectionist type, he can often find himself producing crappy work.

I believe, for us, perfectionists is the biggest challenge to find the balance between being not perfectionist but still producing excellent work and doing our best, but it’s hard cause I often end up doing nothing or awful work…
Stu McLaren on October 11th, 2008 12:56 pm

This is a great article - especially for anyone starting their own business.

I heard a quote a number of years ago from a guy by the name of Mike Litman that is perfectly in align with this same message.

He said…

“You don’t have to get it right, you just have to get it going”.

Don’t wait. Get your ideas out there and perfect them as you go.

Thanks again.
Avinash on October 11th, 2008 1:45 pm

Daniel, Your spot on, Perfectionism is what holds back many bloggers, even I spent a lot of time tweaking themes, then learnt from those mistakes.

Nothings perfect we can perfect them along the way once we start it.
Imran Anwar on October 11th, 2008 1:47 pm

This was an almost perfect article.

Neither extreme is good.

Being paralyzed by perfection is as bad as being paralyzed by anything else (love, fear, laziness, a stroke). Being totally lacking in seeking perfection (with a just wing it, it may fall into place) is ridiculous too. The world is full of “great examples” of that. George W. Bush, the war on Iraq, and many people we know in our lives.

I hope you find this comment “just about perfect”. LOL

Imran
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Potato Chef on October 11th, 2008 1:47 pm

I also used to (still do in some cases) have this problem. You would think that I would have gotten over it…because after all these years I have yet to achieve perfection.
UnknownAdmin on October 11th, 2008 2:02 pm

“In other words: Start with anything that is good enough, and improve it from there.”
Well that’s the problem, it’s not good enought, until it’s perfect.

Good way to make it easier, is to remember that even if it would be perfect for you, it will never satisfy all of your visitors.
Rajaie AlKorani on October 11th, 2008 2:04 pm

I think I’ve perfected the art of being a perfectionist.
Rarst on October 11th, 2008 2:41 pm

I think it is fine if paralyzing aspect is not present. If you have time and determination to improve something - why not?
Franklin Bishop on October 11th, 2008 3:58 pm

I read a similar post about perfectionism a couple of days ago. Perfectionism will be bad for you and your blog if you have one. You might also wast a lot of time that you could’ve spent on your blog. It could also become a very stressful situation and make you give up on your blog if you continue to try to be perfect. I think the author that wrote this article is right on.
Attraction Marketing on October 11th, 2008 5:09 pm

Good post…I teach this to my members all the time. Too many people feel like they need to know everything about advertising and marketing before they actually start to do it.

I simply tell them to find one or two tactics that are easy to implement and do it…then learn some of the more advanced stuff as you go along.
Angel Cuala on October 11th, 2008 6:53 pm

Is there really such a thing as perfect? And yes, I have the same point of view with you when it comes to aiming for perfection, Daniel. In any business, I believe that we should focus on quality but time is also important. In blogging, we cannot tell the search engine to wait just because we still trying to perfect our posts.

If our customer/readers feel that we are sincere to give them quality posts, then who cares for perfection?
Melvin on October 12th, 2008 12:05 am

Wow, you’ve hit it up dude! Im not really a perfectionist but I always strive for excellence as much as possible and some people call me insane for caring too much about perfecting or giving the highest quality using my highest possible effort. I’ve never done anything that you’ve stated on your bulleted list but I think in real life I try to be perfect or at least close to it as possible… Maybe pride has something to do with being a perfectionist?
Jin on October 12th, 2008 1:25 am

Very good read. Fighting perfectionism has been on my mind for a while now. Two things that always hinder my goals are perfectionism and bad time management. I’ve written articles on both subject very recently:

http://www.8164.org/stones-and-pebbles/
http://www.8164.org/serpent-feet/

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Keep up the good posts.
Aibek on October 12th, 2008 12:02 pm

Totally agree, so many times i had scrapped the article just because it was missing something.
thezerox on October 12th, 2008 1:42 pm

I totally agree. And something else, you must learn from your mistakes. Mistakes are not always bad things.
Medical Transcriptionist on October 12th, 2008 3:20 pm

Take it from me, these were my observations about perfectionists:

1.) Perfectionists cannot be good leaders; most of their ventures would be one-man show and not teamwork.
2.) Their thought processes are limited or narrow, which limits their career/financial growth as they are encompassed in a small circle.
3.) Prolonged stints of perfectionist thoughts could lead to obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. (a pervasive pattern in adulthood characterized by unattainable perfectionism; preoccupation with rules, details, and orderliness; unreasonable attempts to control others; excessive devotion to work; and rumination to the point of indecisiveness, all at the expense of flexiblity, openness, and efficiency.)
izzat aziz on October 12th, 2008 11:06 pm

nobody is perfect, you got to work it,
to become as perfect as you can..
but not totally perfect.

me too try to be perfect in blogging, but there is so much room
for me to improve. we only can be better not perfect.
L-Jay on October 13th, 2008 4:47 am

Just like beauty, perfection is in the eye of the beholder. In my art class at school I would think my painting is perfect but my teacher always thought it wasn’t finished - she wanted me to add more things in, more colour here, more lines there. People think that to have perfection you have to do a lot to it - adding more and more - but I think the simplier, the better, the more perfect. And so I’m obsessed with perfect simplicity…lol.
Saeed on October 13th, 2008 5:52 am

I like the sound of “striving towards excellence” instead of “achieving perfectionism”. Thank you for the article, Daniel.
Andre Thomas on October 13th, 2008 6:00 am

This is an awesome post. I also posted on this subject several months ago and it’s great to see I’m not the only one who’s talking about this.

I’ve always urged my clients to roll out their website BEFORE it’s working “perfectly” and refine it as we get feedback from users.

But people seem very resistant to the idea.
Wakish on October 13th, 2008 8:02 am

Yes indeed! I felt the side-effects too.. It’s good to read the advice of others on this trait..
It’s definetly worth thinking about what you’ve been saying.

- Wakish -
(http://wakish.com)
mattypenny on October 13th, 2008 10:18 am

A friend of mine used to say “We shouldn’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good”, which is quite a nice way to put it.
MLRebecca on October 13th, 2008 7:47 pm

I have to say, I think your bulleted list sums up some of the walls I’ve faced as a result of my perfectionism. However, I’m learning to lighten up a bit, and realize that my trying my best is what matters. I’m so glad you’ve done the same! Great advice, and great post!
Social Media Marketing Blog on October 20th, 2008 9:52 am

nice post but sometimes i feel perfection is key to success.
hayze on October 21st, 2008 1:54 am

You are so right on the money with this one. I can’t even count how many opportunities have passed me by because I was so busy trying to get it just right that I never got it done. It’s better to start with a little and then build it to perfection. Thanks for the post.