| Michael J. Fox once said, "I am careful not to confuse | | | | and realize how silly I was to think that being excellent |
| excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; | | | | meant failure. |
| perfection is God's business." Those words rang true | | | | And here's the funny thing that all perfectionists know - |
| as soon as I read them. | | | | perfection isn't possible. If it isn't possible, why keep |
| Early in my career I was a graphic designer for a local | | | | killing ourselves to reach it? If it isn't possible, why even |
| university. I was responsible for creating text books | | | | think and act like it is? Why assume that nothing else |
| and classroom materials for the International College of | | | | will suffice? Why do we set ourselves up for a |
| Dentistry - super exciting work by the way :). Like any | | | | letdown? |
| job I had deadlines to meet with the editors, publishers, | | | | Being excellent is attainable. It's not always easy, but it |
| printers, etc... One day I caught myself going back to | | | | is doable. Excellence doesn't mean that you're |
| tweak the layout for a certain book. That particular | | | | sacrificing your soul. It doesn't mean anything other |
| book was printed six months earlier and currently in | | | | than excellent. And how can that be a bad thing? |
| use in Dental Schools throughout the Middle East. But | | | | When you strive for perfection, you shoot yourself in |
| here I was futzing with margins, font spacing and the | | | | the foot right from the start. You've given yourself a |
| like. | | | | goal that's unreachable. You will never be satisfied with |
| Something made me stop and think about what I was | | | | the end result and that creates a type of myopia. You |
| doing. Why in the world was I messing with a text | | | | cannot see past perfection. Perfection holds you back |
| book that would never be reprinted? I had other things | | | | from reaching your true potential. It's a constrictive way |
| to work on, but internally I was going nuts because I | | | | of being. Perfection costs you more than you realize. |
| knew I could do a better job than I had originally. Mind | | | | And here's the kicker - no one expects you to be |
| you, there was nothing wrong with the final published | | | | perfect. People expect you to strive for excellence. |
| book. It was great. Everyone signed off on my designs | | | | Excellence is what people pay for. It's what people |
| and loved it. Not to mention that it was a critical | | | | really want from you. |
| component of actually training and producing dentists. It | | | | Being recognized as excellent in your field is the key to |
| was working. | | | | success. So I encourage all of you perfectionist out |
| And in that moment I realized that I was a "tweaker". | | | | there to take a few minutes and look at how your |
| My edits had nothing to do with my audience. They | | | | never-ending quest for perfection affects your life and |
| were strictly for my own benefit and justification. I | | | | relationships. Is it helping or hurting you? Are you getting |
| wanted better margins simply because it was the right | | | | what you want? |
| thing to do in my mind. Tweaking was a constant | | | | If you're open to looking at it from another angle, ask |
| thread in my professional life for years. And to this day | | | | yourself these two questions: |
| I still fight the urge to pull up a logo I designed nine | | | | 1. If it were impossible to be perfect who would I prefer |
| months ago, or a strategic plan that I helped write with | | | | to be? |
| a client and make a few tweaks. It's just a part of | | | | 2. If I could be the new way, what would things be |
| who I am. | | | | like? What would happen? |
| But a few years ago I realized that tweaking was just | | | | If you're like me, you'll find that the new way of being is |
| for me - not my clients - most of the time they never | | | | much better than the current constrictive way. Once |
| saw my tweaks anyway. When I did bring my revised | | | | you come to that realization, life and work take on a |
| files to a client, they would look at me like I just handed | | | | whole new meaning. |
| them a moon rock. You could see it in their eyes, | | | | Like I said, I still fight the urge to tweak, but recognizing |
| "What is this? Why are you bringing this to me now?" | | | | how it affects me and actively striving for excellence |
| After more than a few of those interactions, I decided | | | | has allowed me to be more productive, more effective |
| that perfectionism doesn't work for me. In fact, it was | | | | and happier. And that's something that most New |
| actually hurting my client relationships. They had moved | | | | Year's resolutions can't beat. |
| on. I was obsessing. I was the crazy consultant or | | | | By the way, there are probably spelling and/or |
| designer that couldn't let go. So today, I actively strive | | | | grammar mistakes in this blog post. And that's okay. |
| for excellence. | | | | I've spell checked it and I've re-read it and now I'm |
| Excellence is something completely different than | | | | sending it. I want it to be right, but I also know that I can |
| perfection. And it took me a long time to fully | | | | spend hours obsessing over every detail and it won't |
| understand how powerful and good simply being | | | | go out until tomorrow or the next day. Hopefully a few |
| excellent was. For me, perfection was the top. It was | | | | grammatical errors (if you catch them) won't keep you |
| it. Anything else seemed like failure. I look back now | | | | from thinking about what I've said. So here goes... |