{"id":2386,"date":"2020-12-18T12:46:09","date_gmt":"2020-12-18T12:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dougburgett.net\/blog\/?p=2386"},"modified":"2020-12-18T12:46:11","modified_gmt":"2020-12-18T12:46:11","slug":"the-best-advice-for-perfectionists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dougburgett.net\/blog\/the-best-advice-for-perfectionists\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Advice for Perfectionists"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cPerfectionism is self-abuse of the highest order.\u201d<\/p><cite>Anne Wilson Schaef<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>As someone that fights off perfectionist tendencies (yes, that\u2019s a more forgiving way of calling myself a perfectionist), there is one single piece of advice that has helped me more than anything else. The advice itself comes from the author, artist, speaker, and teacher, known as <a href=\"https:\/\/planetsark.com\/\">SARK<\/a>. Her full name is Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy, and I had the pleasure of seeing her speak many moons ago. Her advice is, and I quote, \u201cDo more things badly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During SARK\u2019s talk, she would write key phrases on large sticky notes and plaster them around the room. At the end of the talk, she allowed attendees to take them home. If my memory serves me correctly, I believe it was my wife that selected the sticky note with the words \u201cdoing more things badly\u201d written on it. That piece of paper has hung in our house ever since and throughout that time its impact continues to build.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Currently I\u2019m experiencing a midlife awakening (yes, that\u2019s a more forgiving way of saying I\u2019m experiencing a midlife crisis), and the primary outcome of this is realizing how long I\u2019ve wanted to do certain things but simply haven\u2019t. Time has gotten the best of me, along with perfectionism.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, not anymore. I\u2019m awakened. I\u2019m finally doing more things badly. It\u2019s important to understand that \u201cbadly\u201d here is supposed to be empowering. For a perfectionist, doing something badly is a terrible sin. But that mindset has negative consequences, as you can imagine. It prevents a person from experiencing failure, the true key to success. It also prevents a person from stepping outside of their comfort zone, the true key to growth. It ultimately prevents a person from doing, which is the core of SARK\u2019s advice.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s it. That\u2019s the advice broken down to its simplest form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you silence that perfectionist voice within you, the one that prevents you from taking risks, then you will do things that you normally wouldn\u2019t do. Hence, you will be doing more things. And since you will be doing more things, you will inevitably also be doing more things badly, because you won\u2019t know how to do some of the things that you are now choosing to do. So, just do.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ll give you an example. I enjoy painting. I would get out my paints every five years and spit out a couple paintings and then let my perfectionist tendencies talk me out of continuing. I\u2019d hit that wall where I was no longer inspired and time would pass and I\u2019d lose steam and I\u2019d convince myself that I don\u2019t have the patience to pursue this and there isn\u2019t a reason to pursue it anyways and so on and so on and\u2026 barf.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My midlife awakening showed me that I\u2019m going to die before I actually paint like a painter. You know, like a painter. Someone who actually paints. More than twice every five years. So, I did what any insane person would do and I took a 30-day challenge to complete a painting every day for 30 straight days. Why not? It seemed perfect (excuse my use of that word). It would force me to do more painting. There it is. Do.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to paint, then paint. If you want to sing, then sing. If you want to speak another language, then start speaking another language. Just do it!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just do it? How could I forget that advice! Well, the popular Nike slogan relates well to this topic, but I\u2019m saving that one for another post.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For now, we\u2019ll focus on the singular word, do. That\u2019s all you need. Don\u2019t overcomplicate things. Don\u2019t be afraid of mistakes or failure. Don\u2019t make excuses. Don\u2019t let your life get away from you. Just don\u2019t let your perfectionist tendencies stop you from making progress. Progress only comes from doing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Go. Do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As a perfectionist, the struggle is real. But there is one single piece of advice that has helped me more than anything else.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2389,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-betterment","is-cat-link-borders-light"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Best Advice for Perfectionists - Doug Burgett<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dougburgett.net\/blog\/the-best-advice-for-perfectionists\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Best Advice for Perfectionists - Doug Burgett\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As a perfectionist, the struggle is real. 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