Perfectionism - Why it's so Costly to Your Business Success

Why Perfectionism can be so Costly in your business…

Perfectionism is defined as a philosophy which holds that perfection is attainable. It can show up as a refusal to accept any standard short of perfection. Philosophy is a theoretical basis to an ideal. I could stop writing this article now as perfectionism is an ideal rather than a truth.

But what you may not know is that perfectionism can set up a hidden cycle of striving and proving yourself that secretly sabotages and limits your ability to accumulate wealth and recognition for all the work you put in.

Perfectionism is a common pattern if you’re the type who likes to achieve and hold yourself and others to a high standard. You probably love to excel at everything you do.

Is this You?

• You’re frustrated because you achieve so much but never really feel as fulfilled or satisfied as you thought you would.
• You see other people doing less than you and to a lower standard getting well rewarded for their efforts.
• You seem to strive endlessly, never arriving at the success you feel you deserve in terms of money, promotion etc.

While it may seem logical to try to do everything perfectly, there’s a huge downside to having this hidden cycle of striving. Never quite feeling good enough, always thinking you could have done better. When you live by that pattern, you tell the Universe:

I’m not perfect yet so

• I don’t deserve the rewards of what I’m doing until I get it right.
• I don’t deserve the attention and praise.
• I don’t deserve the compensation.
• I don’t deserve the respect, the credibility.
• I don’t deserve it because I’m not perfect yet.

The result? The universe kicks back with more opportunities that keep you striving and never arriving at the success you want and the cycle continues.

In truth, it’s not your fault. Perfectionism is reinforced by society. In our schools, for example, you could have got 99% of the answers right, but the only answer that has a red circle is the one you got wrong. I worked in a place once where the focus was never to celebrate our progress, it was on the 1% that never seemed to get done. Keeping the pressure on and the stress levels up. It’s also not cool to “toot your own horn”. Even if you do speak well of your work, in your head you‘ll be thinking “I should have done better”.

The thing is – it’s difficult to argue with the perfectionism reasoning. There is always room for improvement, room to grow and other ways of doing more. It’s always going to be true. The problem is that when you keep saying “I should have done better” you’re really saying, “I’m not enough”, “I don’t deserve the reward yet”. More importantly this chips away at your confidence and drains the enjoyment out of the work you love. It’s exhausting. This is how you can burnout. Pushing and driving, always striving never arriving – working hard for a limited reward.  

Most important of all you throw off your balance and risk switching off your prosperity pathway. That is your inner game of prosperous making money, attracting opportunities to thrive in your personal and professional life. 

It doesn’t have to be this way. Some people are more inclined to perfectionism than others. Your human design can help you identify this. If you’re ready to make progress….

I help you develop strategies to break this perfectionism cycle once and for all. Still hold a high standard AND get that success you deserve. So are you a natural detail person? Or did you "learn to be perfect". You can find this out looking at your human design.

You'll want to know, because you'll need to do things differently. Lets face it, it impacts not just your results, but your self esteem and your ability to create those opportunities and recognition you crave.

Check out my website for different ways to work with me to break this cycle and many others that may just be keeping you from thriving in your business. https:www.annitakeane.com