3 Ways To Move Past Perfectionism in Creative Business
If perfectionism is holding you back in your creative business or with your creative work, try these 3 ways to move past this fear of not being good enough.
It wasn't until I trained as a Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coach that I even realized what perfectionism is and that, actually, I'm a raging perfectionist, now a “recovering perfectionist”. I thought it had something to do with having a perfect home and being groomed. Having perfect nails and makeup, and always ironed clothes. None of which I do. Turns out, those things are external and they don’t cover what being a perfectionist means.
I see my perfectionism as an employee that I have to let go of when she takes all joy from our work. She has a way of sneaking back in, and she can have a chair in the back. But that’s it.
What is perfectionism?
Perfectionism, in its essence, is your fear of what other people think of you. It's the fear of never being enough.
It’s the illusion that if you make everything perfect, no one can put a finger on anything, no one will see your shortcomings, your fear, and that you really don't know what you're doing.
So you work harder, you stay longer, you criticize your own work (and often other people's), and you keep changing and tweaking. And no matter how hard you work, and how many compliments you get, you don't believe you’re good because you know deep down, that it's not perfect. It could be better.
So many things fell into place for me once I could see myself in the patterns of a perfectionist’s behavior.
How perfectionism can affect your creative work
You never finish the creative work you started.
You don’t begin in the first place, and let the stories in your head overwhelm you have to fight constantly procrastinating.
Comparing your journey to others and expecting to be as far ahead as they are
You feel no joy or lightness during the process if you do manage to keep going and persevere
You keep working on details over and over because finishing means opening yourself up to criticism, no sales, failure, etc.
“Perfectionism is the murder of things like grace, joy, spontaneity, wonder, humility, and it is fear in high-heeled shoes. But it can trick you because to some people it seems like a virtue. It isn’t. It’s just fear”
3 ways to move past perfectionism
I’ll give you the 3 ways I use to move past perfectionism. They work so well for me that I am now a “recovering perfectionist.” This means I create every day, I’ve moved forward with my business, and helped other creatives move past creative blocks like perfectionism through creativity coaching too.
Awareness: catch your all-or-nothing-thinking
Perfectionist thinking tends to be all-or-nothing. I’m right and you’re wrong. It’s all-in or not bothering. You know all the sayings…
This isn’t helpful in the creative process, as making mistakes and trying new angles is a big part of business and creative processes.
Try and pay attention to what is stopping you from doing the work, and working on your business.
When you find yourself re-doing something you’re working on for the 10th time, stop a minute and check with yourself why you’re doing it.
If you’re resisting taking on a new project, big or small, ask yourself why that is. What are your expectations? What is holding you back?
Taking a tiny small step in the intended direction is the best work you’ll do all day. Doing enough of those, over time, will get you where you want to go.
Lower your expectations
Oh, this is a good one for me.
Lowering my expectations and going for "good enough".
I literally say the words out loud "It's not perfect, but it's good enough" and press publish!
Perfect ain't never going to happen, there is no such thing. Just do good enough. I promise you, it'll be enough. Most perfectionists aim for 150% so if you stop at “this is good enough”, I bet you’re still on 100% to what other people achieve.
“Just” doing work that is good enough can be anxiety-inducing for some of us. But one of the dangers of perfectionism is this “all or nothing” thinking. Either you won’t do it, or it has to be the best. But what happens is, that you go for “nothing”. And that’s a shame.
Aiming at doing good enough work, puts you in that huge grey area where we all are. It puts you in the game.
IMPORTANT! Lowering your expectations doesn’t mean lowering your ambitions or standards. Just because you’re not a perfectionist, doesn’t mean you don’t do good work.
It just means you’re realistic about the process of creating.
No book is written in one go, without mistakes or rewrites.
Overnight success is years in the making.
It means you know not to expect to create the same level of work, as a beginner, as someone who has practiced for years.
Creating just for fun
Before you roll your eyes, hear me out why taking on the attitude of working “just for fun” is a clever strategy.
Perfectionism is fear-based and your amygdala, the fear part of your brain, attempts to keep you safe from other people’s critical opinions.
This makes you feel the stakes are high. Too high. Scary high.
But doing work for fun tells your amygdala that it doesn’t matter, it’s only fun so there are no stakes. The pressure to perform gets way smaller and you’ll find it easier to finish work.
This change in attitude is the difference between sitting down to write the Eat, Pray, Love and sitting down to write a couple of sentences because you really enjoy making words and sentences appear on the screen and it’s purely for your own enjoyment.
I promise you, that changing your thinking and goal to playfulness and joy, will get you further than perfectionism will. Any.Given.Day.
If you want help with perfectionism in your creative process, maybe have a look at my coaching.
I help creators and entrepreneurs build inspiring and effective processes for how they create and do business. Check out my creativity coaching page for more info.
