Confession: I’m a raging perfectionist.
Oh, sure, you wouldn’t know it to LOOK at me. My skirt has a pull in it, I’m chasing down three deadlines, and my hairstylist is so suspicious of my ability to come in for a trim she forced me to show her the follow-up reminder I booked into my iPhone calendar. (Which I, of course, cancelled.)
But on the inside, I’m the still a straight-A student whose sense of importance derived from improbably high PSAT scores…in middle school.
The truth is, I like to win. I like awards. I like external validation and making people proud and working hard to reap rewards.
I bet you do, too.
Because you and I are alike. We’re big dreamers on a mission.
Someone somewhere along this path told us we could succeed if we tried. We incorporated that belief into our worldview, and to this day we operate from the idea that YES, we do have what it takes to design a career and life we love.
Of course, when you swap structured grade systems and higher ed degrees for fluctuating biz profits and utility bills, perfectionism gets kind of…debilitating.
In high school, you could rank #7 in a class of 300. Today, you’re 1 in 7 billion.
In high school, you got awards for attendance. Today, very few people expect your participation (though I believe showing up puts you ahead of 99% of the time).
In high school, perfectionism meant great grades, acceptance at a good college, and the wide-open potential of a bright, shiny future.
But today, perfectionism will suffocate you.
It will creep into your brain and whisper terrible lies like, “This isn’t your best work. Start over. Try again. Maybe you like this, but what about next time? Quit while you’re ahead.”
Worst of all, this motivation vampire shows up only when you desperately want to do your best.
Like when you’re ready to reach out to your tribe. When you want to share world-changing ideas by writing from the heart.
But you and I, we’re not alone. I’ve been talking to a LOT of entrepreneurs lately struggling to use their authentic voice.
Lest you think that this is an issue that “real” writers don’t have to face, consider this quote from bestselling author Steven Pressfield:
Pressfield termed the thing that keeps us from sitting down to write “Resistance.”
That’s perfectionism in a nutshell: the feeling that surges in your throat and stomach when you want something so badly, when you want to get it right SO much, that you feel sick and stuck and ready to run.
And oh yeah, it’ll stop you in your tracks. It’ll shut down your voice and make you question your own worth to the point that your poor confidence curls into a psychological corner and moans.
But it doesn’t have to.
I know that you NEED to make it go away so you can start taking inspired action. So you can write and speak and reach your peeps because they need you too.
I’ve spent years, YEARS, fighting perfectionism. I dealt with it before I knew what it was and continue to deal now that I do. Because guess what? Intellectualizing won’t make the fear go away.
You can’t think your way out of it. Believe me, I’ve tried.
The only thing that helps you blast through its impossible standards and perfect unscalable walls is ACTION.
So here are my two favorite tricks to circumvent the noise and trick your brain into letting go so the words can flow.
- Talk. Don’t write, just talk.
Choose your topic, then imagine that you’re talking to your best friend about it. What do you want her to know?
It doesn’t matter how you start, just spill the beans.
While you’re at it, record yourself and use the recording to kickstart your writing. (I use the Recorder app, which came preinstalled on my phone. You can also check out these articles for Lifehacker’s recommendations for best iPhone and Android recording apps.)
Remember, editing comes later. For now, just let go. Rock and roll. You’ll be amazed at how much you have to say.
2. Set a timer.
I always, always, ALWAYS, set my timer to jumpstart my writing. It prompts you like you wouldn’t believe—and sets a concrete time when you can stop, so the task no longer seems horrible and endless.
So the next time you need to get something done, set your timer (again, you can use the app on your phone) for 10 minutes. When you hit go, GO. Don’t stop moving your fingers over the keys or your pencil over the paper.
Flow. Move. Dance. Spill. Just keep writing.
And when you silence that beeping alarm, you may find you want to keep going. You might be on a roll.
Because you, my friend, have just outsmarted perfectionism.
And time flies when you’re having fun. 🙂
