Ron Tustin – Being ‘Perfect’ and Going for Gold

 Read more articles from Ron Tustin. For people itchy to make things better

'Be intent upon the perfection of the present day.' William Law.

In the last two weeks we have seen on our television screens many people succeed at the London Olympics and we have a better appreciation of how they have achieved their successes, medal winners or not.

If we then reflect on how we may wish to succeed in our own ways, and at our own levels we can be tricked into thinking that to do this we need to be perfect.  However nothing could be further from the truth. For excellence is often stymied or smothered by perfectionism. It is a part of us that tells us that nothing we do will ever be good enough – that we should try again.

Often we experience the frustration of trying to get something 'just right', only to feel ourselves becoming discouraged … as the day slips away and we continue to tweak, re-tweak and not finish?

Today, I will talk about three different messages we may get about being perfect and how we may deal with them.

1. 'I need to wait for just the right time to get started.'

Well what exactly is the 'right time'?Is the right time when:

• We feel inspired?

• When we have more free time?

• When there are no distractions?

All of these messages tell us that something else is needed, that we may have no control over, before we can begin.

Our answer can be: 'The right time is right now.' 'Now' is what we have to work with. Timetable the time on the calendar or to-do list and start.

2. 'It is not perfect yet.'

This is something we often say, so ask these questions:

• What do we consider perfect?

• Is it really attainable?

• Whose eyes are we seeing it through?

The answer can be ‘It is good enough.'  Letting go is often a challenge, but also remember that the journey has many steps … and the pleasure of accomplishing small steps increases our self-confidence and motivation.

3. 'I know I can make it better.'

This may be true, and we are aware we may have certain weak areas. This is a place where endless time can be wasted tweaking something.

Our answer? 'I will ask for feedback.'
This is empowering and powerful in 3 important ways:

1. Others bring fresh eyes, so they can quickly see mistakes or oversights.

2. Delegating this will free up your time so you can move on to your next task.

3. We are embracing others' viewpoints rather than trying to avoid this by creating something 'perfect.' The more we welcome input, the less we fear others' responses.

I hope this helps with insight that trying to be perfect is more about fear and paralysis than achieving excellence and replying to these messages will help us have gold in our lives.

"If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it." ~Olin Miller

Please tell me what you think or if you would like more information on this topic please contact me here.

Ron Tustin
Revive and Thrive Coaching, Professional Coach, member of International Coach Federation.

Read Ron's Blog
www.reviveandthrivecoaching.com
info@rtc.org.nz
Ph 0800 003679

Motivating baby boomers to see the world with fresh eyes.