No Better Time For Better

Personally, I always thought perfectionism was another word for procrastination. Often, in the perfectionist mind, the perfectionist will say, “Since it’s unlikely this project will turn out perfectly anyway and since there is no perfect time to start, why bother?” That seems like a great strategy to procrastinate.

But then, this week, I read an article from BPS Research Digest on Athletes Benefit from Being Perfectionist. In the article, it extols the virtues of striving for perfectionism and that our performance level and personal motivation are actually increased when we strive for perfection. If you recall, a recent article I wrote extolled the virtues of dopamine, a feel-good natural chemical, being released into the brain when we relentlessly pursue a goal.

Being your best, giving your best and becoming your best can be linked to perfectionism. Why wouldn’t we study that which we choose to do (employment or career) each day to improve our performance and in doing so, improve our results? Why is it that we choose to offer our clients and co-workers only the skill set we had when we took the job and choose not to self-improve?

Michael Bloomberg, the current Mayor of New York City once said that you are not paid for what you have done in the past but you are actually paid for what you are about to do in the future. In other words, people (companies and organizations in particular) agree to pay you for what you can bring to their organizations. You are not paid for what you’ve done in the past. You are paid for what you are about to do for your company or organization.

In the same way you would choose items in your investment portfolio based on performance of the past, you will choose investments that you hope will bring a healthy return to you on your investment in the future. The same could be said of your employer. They are looking for a healthy return on investment too. And so are your customers. Why then, would you choose to be a mediocre performer when there are some investments (people and companies) who are better performers in the marketplace?

Attitude Adjustment: You don’t need to be perfect to achieve an increase in your standard of living. You just have to adopt the attitude of wanting to strive for perfection – getting better with each and every day. People are more likely to invest in you if you have shown them that you are willing to invest in yourself first. Be your best. Do the work. Learn what you need to learn. Don’t allow the mediocrity of your co-workers to ever let you off the hook. Never allow yourself to utter the words, “that’s good enough.” Don’t ever let anyone tell you this is as good as it gets. Of course it isn’t. It can always be better.