“What is your weakness”? The classic question popped up during the interview.
“I’m a perfectionist,” I replied quickly, “but I don’t let it get in the way of delivery,” I added.
I got the job, but their response made me think deeply about my ordeal with perfectionism.
They weren’t looking for perfect employees. They wanted team players who could get things done.
It hit me hard because perfection had been my companion since childhood. My trusted friend.
In my academic and professional life, it served me well. First drafts accepted.
Projects delivered flawlessly. Deadlines met with excellence.
The praise was addictive. “90% of my work accepted at first submission,” I’d proudly tell myself.
But there was a darker side to this friendship with perfection. One I hadn’t seen for years.
Growing up with scarce resources, mistakes were costly. I learned to get things right the first time.
This mindset crept into every corner of my life. If I couldn’t do it perfectly, I wouldn’t do it at all.
↳ Public speaking haunted me. I declined leadership roles, waiting until my speaking skills were “perfect”. “I’ll lead when I can speak better,’ I told myself. Meanwhile, less prepared people stepped up and grew.”
↳ Ideas stayed on my drawing board for months. Perfect plans, never executed. While I refined and refined, others took similar ideas and ran with them. They weren’t perfect, but they were done.
Three decades into life, my biggest regrets aren’t the projects I tried and failed at.
↳ They’re the ones I never started.
↳ The speeches I never gave.
↳ The leadership roles I declined.
“If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done,” says Ecclesiastes 11:4.
Today, I choose progress over perfection.
Getting things done better over time than best right now.
I’ve learned that well-managed mistakes often teach more than delayed perfection.
To every perfectionist reading this: your greatest achievements might be waiting on the other side of “good enough”.
Start. Stumble. Learn. Grow.
Perfect is the enemy of done.
Have a great week.
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Regards,
FUN FACT: I wrote this post 3 years ago yet this is my first time posting it🫣
P.S. If you found this useful, please share. ♻️
Comment if you have a similar experience or a lesson to share too.
#ProfessionalGrowth #Perfectionism #CareerAdvice #lifeadvice
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