Incremental excellence: An alternative to perfectionism

Are you a perfectionist? If you are, you've probably felt how it can put a damper on pursuing your dreams. Perfection is an elusive beast, the hunt for which inevitably leaves us feeling like we came up short.

One alternative that still lets you play in the neighborhood of perfection is "incremental excellence," or what this article calls "creeping excellence."

...Adopt the habit of creeping excellence in which you ensure that everything you do is just a bit better than it was the last time you did it. Leave everything better than when you found it. Creeping excellence reduces the time and costs racked up by perfectionism. Perfectionists spend 80% of their time and resources perfecting the last 20% of everything.

I re-dubbed it incremental excellence (it just sounds better to me), but the idea is the same. Instead of an absolute perfection, focus on using everything you do as an opportunity to discover ways to do it even better.

Make sure you approach it with a positive attitude. "Where are my opportunities to learn and grow" can lead to an upward spiral. "What the hell did I do wrong this time" will take you in the opposite direction.

 

--

Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM