16 Aug Am I a perfectionist?
Is Fiona a perfectionist? Are you? Find out why perfectionism can hold you back in the latest Smartest Conversation and learn about Fiona’s “Good Enough” challenge . In The Smartest Conversations series Birgitta Ravenhill and Fiona Spence examine issues that professional women face on a daily basis in the corporate world. Check out the other videos in The Smartest Conversations series and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss out on the latest conversations.
Transcript
Birgitta: Fiona, I’ve got a challenging question for you. Do you consider yourself a perfectionist?
Fiona: Yes, sometimes.
B: Oh, good.
F: I think with perfectionism, it’s not just how you see yourself, I think it’s how other people see you and how your actions affect them.
B: Okay. But is that entirely true? Because if you are trying to make everything perfect does it hold you back as well?
F: Absolutely. Yes, I think it does. I think it slows you down because I’ll try and do something and spend longer, and somebody else will do it and knock it out and knock out another and another and get tons of experience and lots of results.
B: Yeah, and let me just let you in to a little something that we did. Because we went through the whole park and the rest just to find a perfect spot to make this video, and there wasn’t any actually. So, now we’re just doing it and that has all to do with your challenge because you’re challenging yourself, aren’t you?
F: I have a special challenge. I’m challenging myself to be average.
B: Ooh. And so, what does average mean to you?
F: For me, by being average, what that means is achieving things what I call good enough. Being good enough. So, it doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t have to be right, it just has to be good enough.
B: Yeah, because perfect and right is not something that is really existing, because it’s all perception, isn’t it?
F: It is, and I think if you get too obsessed with perfection you start fearing failure. And when you fear failure you miss out on opportunities
B: You don’t take action.
F: And you miss out on opportunities to learn and grow.
B: Absolute. Absolutely.
F: So, my challenge is to be average.
B: Oh, good. Good, good. And do we have a challenge for everybody who is watching this video today?
F: I think so. Look, I think this is really a challenge for the perfectionists out there, so if you’re like Birgitta don’t worry. (laughs)
B: No, I’m not going to do it. (laughs)
F: But if you are a perfectionist, maybe think of… Spend half an hour a day or think of task that you can do each day that you could try and be slightly less perfectionistic on. So, just aim for average. And a way that I might do that for example, is say I had to write an article or a review or a blog,
(child crying)
I’m waffling you see because I’m hearing children going,
B: “Oh no! It’s not perfect now.” (laughs)
F: Anyway.- Anyway, so whatever it is that you have to do, allocate yourself a timeframe. Say, “Look, whatever I achieve in that timeframe, “that’s good enough.” And then just accept it, leave it, send the email.
B: Yes, absolutely. Don’t read it over again, just plug it out.
F: Don’t turn off the video just because there’s a baby crying in the background.
(laughs)