22 Feb Is happiness accepting “good enough”?
One of the biggest obstacles to happiness is frustration and disappointment and one of the biggest contributors to frustration and disappointment is…perfectionism. If we're constantly not satisfied with ourselves or others or the world then we'll constantly NOT be happy!
Which is why I thought, my fellow happiness seekers, you might find this article of interest…
"Perfection vs. High Performance" by Lou Tice
Are you a perfectionist? Do you know anyone who is? Let's talk about the drive to be perfect and what it can cost you.
What is so bad about being good? Nothing at all. But trying to be perfect can cost you a lot in terms of mental health and harmonious relationships. You see, people who can mobilize themselves in the face of tough problems are usually folks who don't worry about being perfect. They are happy to move ahead with a partial solution, trusting that they will invent the rest as they go along. Obstacles become mere detours on the road to the ultimate goal.
Now, perfectionists will try to tell you that their relentless standards drive them to levels of productivity and excellence that they could not otherwise attain. But often just the opposite is true. Perfectionists usually accomplish less, because they waste so much time paralyzed by fear of failure. They will not start anything until they know how to finish it without any mishaps, and I believe that is a mistake. And while perfectionists seem to have a positive attitude toward whatever they are doing, sometimes it is creative avoidance with a different face.
Even though they don't know exactly how they are going to do something, high-performance people keep their vision of the end-result uppermost in their minds and forge ahead anyway. They believe that they will get the help they need, find the resources they need, and figure out the how-to's as they go – and they usually do.
If for some reason they do not achieve the outcome they wanted, high-performance people don't waste energy beating themselves up about it. They simply learn from the experience and move on. High performance people are resilient and persistent, stay on target, and have confidence in their ability to see it through. Give me a team of high performance people any day!
Lou Tice (The Pacific Institute – www.thepacificinstitute.com)