Perfectionism

Perfectionism

As I have stated before, perfectionism is a concept. We as humans can only imagine perfection, what it is and how to achieve it. However, this is a flat illusion. We have no idea what true perfectionism is, but we know it is a coveted concept that many strive to achieve.

When we think of the “perfect world,” each of us has an image. This image is defined by the clarity of our values and the amount of time, energy and money we have to develop this illusion. When we take these items into consideration what we come up with is our “good enough” for the moment. We make decisions on our perfectionism by analyzing our resources and comparing them to the results we desire.

For instance, once we have the question determined that we need to resolve. We then analyze the outcome by penalty vs. benefit. What is the penalty for not completing the task at all? Do I have the resources to complete this task? What is the penalty for giving 50%, 80%, 90% to the task? What negative effect will this decision have on me, my family, my friends or my employer? On the other side, what is the benefit of doing this task? Will there be a future benefit? What is the benefit of completing this task with 50%, 80% or 90% effort? Depending on resources, will this help with getting a raise, promotion or savings of resources? How will completing this task benefit me, my family, my friends or my employer?
Each of us has our own “perfect world” scenario.

We have individual values, benefits and penalties that we associate with each task. In the end we must answer the questions; what is the penalty for not making it perfect? And what is the reward for making it perfect? Then when we put the answers up against our values and resources we can make an informed decision about each task.