The Perfectionist’s Guide to Failing
Sometimes you just need to do a bad job. Here’s how.
Just get it done, in all its iterations — just write 500 words, just run for 20 minutes, just send the email — usually seems like sound advice. And it can be when you’re procrastinating because you don’t want to do whatever it is. But sometimes the point when you actually sit down to do something is precisely when the problem starts: When the only way you know how to do something is perfectly, it can feel too overwhelming to begin.
For self-proclaimed perfectionists, in particular, the desire to get something right on the first try can be so powerful that nothing ends up getting done at all. When you know you can’t execute the way you want to, procrastinating becomes a coping mechanism. And these unrealistically high standards, in turn, can lead to depression, anxiety, and, perhaps worst of all for a perfectionist, a missed deadline.
But you can overcome that mental block and really, truly just get it done, even if you’re bad at whatever it is you’re doing. Here’s how to accept the fact that taking a clumsy, poorly done first stab at something can be the only path toward actually accomplishing it — and how to let yourself fail when everything in you is fighting against it.
