I see entrepreneurs, especially female entrepreneurs, struggle with perfectionism everyday. It is holding us back from reaching our potential.
If you struggle with perfectionism, put “me” in the comments below because you’re not alone!
The majority of women will not apply to a job unless they meet 100% of the skills and experience listed in the job description, but a men will apply to a job if they only meet 60-70% of the requirements listed.
Perfectionism holds us back. It stops us from even trying to better ourselves through experience and reach anywhere near our potential. Here are three ways you can overcome it:
Acknowledge we all have strengths and weaknesses, and you are not defined by your weaknesses. Your success is built on your strengths.
I think we believe this because we are taught in school to put more time and energy into subjects we don’t excel at. If you’re really good at writing, but math isn’t your thing, you get a tutor for math, not writing, which is kind of silly if you think about it, because you’re going to be a lot more successful continuing to build a skill that you excel in.
For me, my strengths are numbers (I love data!) and connecting with people. My weaknesses? Spelling and grammar — which is actually really funny since both my parents were editors and writers! People call me out on my spelling and grammar mistakes all the time via email, direct message. I even get the occasional text message from my mom telling me about the issues in my latest email or post. But that’s okay! I’m not perfect. No one is. And if I let my imperfect spelling and grammar hold me back from putting things out into the world, I wouldn’t have the business and success I have today.
Get comfortable with messing up. It will actually make you more successful.
Early this year I attended the Kajabi Annual Conference and saw some of the best speakers in the business — Rachel Hollis, Brendon Burchard, Chalene Johnson, Amy Porterfield, Jasmine Star…just to name a few. All of these incredibly successful entrepreneurs did an amazing job at engaging the crowd, sharing stories that resonated with the audience, and giving step-by-step actionable advice.
Why were they so good on stage? Well, because this wasn’t their first rodeo. They have all spent years perfecting their message, practicing their speaking skills, and learning how to do it better each time. As my dad used to say, “how do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice, repetition, repetition, repetition”. You don’t get to Carnegie Hall (or reach your goals) by hiding in your office until whatever you’re working on is “perfect”. You need to put it out into the world and then learn as you go!
Perfection isn’t what matters. What matters is that you are moving forward towards your goal.
Here is another fun fact for you. Professional golfers only hit the fairway 66% of the time. These are the best golfers in the entire world, and 34% of the time they completely miss where they are aiming. What makes them the best is that they’re able to keep moving forward. To quickly shake off the fact that they “made a mistake” and then continue to keep progressing and getting better. Your business is going to progress and you’re not going to get closer to your goal by waiting for everything to be perfect.
Every day we hold back because things aren’t “perfect” or “ready”, we’re depriving our audience of our knowledge and solutions.
I know that getting over things like perfectionism is easier said than done, but what does help is having the support of other amazing, ambitious entrepreneurs cheering you on.
It helps to see other entrepreneurs doing it and get in the right state of mind to believe in what we’re putting out there. That’s why I created…
[optin-monster-shortcode id=”ykrrilz7xghrp2zbzmsb”]The Free 5 Day Reset Your Business & Mindset Challenge. To join the free challenge, head to annakonchar.com/freechallenge or register above.
