How do you really feel, Wayne?!? :)
Tony Robbins (see Notes) says the same thing. He says that “perfection” is the ABSOLUTE LOWEST standard you can ever have for yourself because it’s IMPOSSIBLE to attain.
Rumi (see Notes) reminds us: “There is no worse sickness for the soul, o you who are proud, than this pretense of perfection.”
And Maslow’s (see Notes as well): “There are no perfect human beings! Persons can be found who are good, very good indeed, in fact, great. There do in fact exist creators, seers, sages, saints, shakers, and movers… even if they are uncommon and do not come by the dozen. And yet these very same people can at times be boring, irritating, petulant, selfish, angry, or depressed. To avoid disillusionment with human nature, we must first give up our illusions about it.”
Are you currently paralyzed by your need to be perfect?
We’ve all been there, but it’s time to get over ourselves. We’re not going to be the first human beings to be perfect so we might as well take the precious time we have left here and go out and rock it, eh? :)
In my own creative pursuits I love combining two ideas: “The Angel’s Advocate” and “Thinking Crappy.”
Step 1: Play with your Angel’s Advocate. Imagine you’ve got a little Angel on your side who can wave a magic wand and make EVERYTHING just right. What would your life look like?!? Got it? Sweet.
Next step: Follow Guy Kawasaki’s wisdom from Rules for Revolutionaries (brilliant book) and “Think crappy!” Just get to work!! Identify the first milestone you want to hit (whether it’s a first draft of a business plan or a first date with a potential soul mate or whatever). Just get to work! Then, as Kawasaki says, “Churn, baby, churn!” As you move forward from your first crappy version, “churn” it so it evolves into a more and more beautiful masterpiece. That’s how I’ve built all three of my businesses, that’s how I write and that’s how I roll when I’m having fun and rockin’ every aspect of life.
So, let’s move through our paralysis and just do it, yo! :)