At first glance, perfectionism might seem like a positive trait, especially in the workplace. After all, who wouldn’t want to deliver flawless, top-notch quality work and what employer wouldn’t want someone who works until perfection is achieved (or they drop)?

While striving for excellence is a positive trait, perfectionism takes it to an unhelpful extreme. I find it’s less about wanting to do your best and more about fearing failure or criticism. And that fear can limit your career progress in some pretty significant ways.

This month, I wanted to talk about how perfectionism can hinder your growth and, more importantly, some practical ways you can start working on being imperfect (corny but true!).

This is a topic I have personally worked a lot on, so I can’t wait to share more and hear from you on this topic!

Let me know in the comments where perfectionism is showing up for you!

Signs you might be a perfectionist

How can you tell if perfectionism is holding you back?

You avoid tasks unless you’re sure you can excel at them

Perfectionists often wait for the ‘perfect’ time to act (applying for a promotion, pitching a new idea, or starting a big project). The problem is that perfect time rarely exists. Sure, it’s important to consider factors like whether you’ll have energy or capacity.

I have to say though, sometimes the reasons are just excuses because you’re too scared you won’t get it even though you prepared excessively. As a result, opportunities pass by while you wait to craft a perfect application/pitch.

You spend excessive time revising, tweaking, and second-guessing your work

Overthinking every detail can leave you stuck in decision-making mode. You may spend so much time trying to make the ‘right’ choice that you fail to make any choice at all. Especially if you are mostly responsible for your own output and have to justify your decisions after.

You also might fear feedback, worrying that it will confirm your perceived inadequacies.

You struggle to delegate, believing that no one else can meet your standards

It can cause stress to you but also damage your relationships at work!

Holding others to unrealistic expectations can and will create tension in your workplace.You don’t want to be known as a person who’s never satisfied with anyone’s work and only gives critique.

Perfectionism doesn’t lend itself to having a lot of flexibility and in plenty of jobs it becomes a big con.

You feel unsatisfied even after completing a project because it’s not ‘good enough’

Wanting to achieve perfection does take an emotional toll.

Perfectionism has been tied to potential burnout and low self-esteem.When you work so hard but are never happy with your results it can lead to feeling negatively about your work AND yourself in general.

You don’t make any moves that might be too risky in your mind

When you’re afraid to fail, you avoid taking risks or trying new approaches.Over time, this limits your ability to innovate and can be downright dangerous if you’re in a highly risk-positive workplace where you’re expected to try and fail all the time.

You might resonate with one or a couple of these. But don’t worry. The work is hard but everything is possible (just don’t try to become too perfect at being imperfect).

How to feel better about being imperfect

In general, you need to retrain your brain to focus on progress and the actual standards you have in your job, not the ones in your head.

Now of course, it depends on your workplace. There are sadly still plenty that disregard what a human being can physically do and demand 16 hour workdays and solving impossible issues.

But if your workplace is not one of these (and I hope it’s not!), here are some practical strategies to help:

Redefine what success means to you

Instead of aiming for ‘perfect’, think about what success looks like for each task.

Ask yourself:

• What does ‘good enough’ look like here?
• What is the most important thing that I should focus on?

For example, if you’re preparing a presentation for your boss who cares about numbers and not aesthetics, focus on delivering clear, impactful content and don’t worry so much about redoing every design detail.

Set realistic time limits for yourself

Perfectionists often spend too much time on tasks, tweaking endlessly. Avoid this by setting clear time limits for each phase of a project.

Ask yourself:

• Am I pulling all-nighters working on tweaking something that can be sent out as is?
• Is the extra time I’m spending adding real value, or am I overthinking it?

First, you have to understand how much certain tasks usually take. Then you could try and record how much time you use to work on the core of the task and how much longer it takes trying to reach that ‘perfect’ state. Then trim the time until you’re being productive but not overthinking it.

Learn to delegate (and feel less stressed out about it)

Trusting others with tasks can be challenging, but it’s essential. Not just for your personal growth but for the speed of completing tasks. Especially when you move up into leadership roles, having more time for strategic thinking and your own things is absolutely essential.

Ask yourself:

• Do I know my team’s strengths (important!) and weaknesses (even more important!)?
• What tasks on my plate could someone else handle just as well, or even better?

When you know your team well, it is easier to delegate the tasks accordingly.

Celebrate progress

When you complete something, give yourself credit for finishing it – even if it wasn’t flawless.

Ask yourself:

• Am I acknowledging my effort, or am I only focusing on what could’ve been better?
• What small reward would make me feel proud of my progress?

Sometimes even seemingly childish solutions, like giving yourself a sticker after a task with a nice congratulatory message work! You just have to find what is best for you.

Your next step

Reflect on yourself and your habits at work and in everyday life. Are there areas where perfectionism is holding you back?

I’d recommend starting small:

• Identify one task where you can aim for ‘good enough’ instead of perfect.
• Celebrate a recent accomplishment that you weren’t completely happy with.

What’s one area of your career where you could let go of perfectionism? Please share, I’m very interested!