Progress, Not Perfection

I was getting an update from a customer who was a bit overwhelmed with the sheer volume of tasks he had to accomplish in the next few weeks and was struggling under the weight.

“Come on!” I said. “Look at what you’ve accomplished recently.” I then rattled off a list of all of the projects he’d completed over the past few months.

He nodded for a moment, then closed his eyes and said quietly to himself, “You’re right. Progress, not perfection.”

Boom!

His idle moment of reflection hit me like a thunderbolt. I am so self-critical. I beat myself up all the time for my mistakes. I set unrealistically high expectations and push myself to achieve them, then shred myself when I can’t achieve them. If it’s not perfect, my crazy brain reasons, it’s because I’m not good enough.

It’s as if I live my life as an all-or-nothing proposition.

I thought about how my colleague whispered those three words: “Progress, not perfection.” Clearly, this was not just a slogan. It was a mantra, a philosophy that was a genuine source of inspiration and motivation to him. Sure, he momentarily lost touch with it as life body-slammed him with a million things to do. Yet, when reminded of the progress he’s making, he fell back on those words as if they were a huge safety net, catching him and putting him right back on his feet.

As a way to combat my never-ending stream of self-nagging, I can take a cue from this little catchphrase. Whatever I’m working on doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t need every “i” dotted and every “t” crossed. Sometimes, making progress on part of a project is all that’s required. The rest will eventually get completed or resolved. Everything in my life doesn’t have to have “NOW!” stamped on it in blazing red letters.

All of us has a lot to do in our professional and personal lives—more than any of us has time to finish in a single day. Tomorrow will bring even more to do. As you navigate through your workload, remember that progress is more important than perfection. Whenever you can, focus on quality, completeness and innovation, not making it perfect. You’ll find, in the long run, that will get you to the finish line—and you’ll be a lot more sane and happy when you get there.