Excellence versus perfection

04 Feb Excellence versus perfection

Posted at 11:33h in Focus by

I want to talk to you about the subtle difference between Excellence and Perfection, and how the pursuit of one will propel your business forward, whilst the other with hold it firmly back.

“Perfectionism is not a quest for the best, it is a pursuit of the worst in ourselves, the part that tells us nothing we do will ever be good enough.” – Julia Cameron

Can you relate to any of these:

  • You’re working on a new website, in fact you have been for months now. The outline is there, but somehow it just isn’t all coming together as you want it to.
  • You’ve got an idea for something new you want to launch – it’s not a new idea, you’ve had it for quite a while and keep mulling it over. But, you never seem to have the time to thrash it out properly and figure out all the detail so you can move it forward.
  • You’re struggling to get all the ‘work’ done for your customers and deep down know you need to get some help.
  • Maybe you should hire someone, but you’re afraid they won’t do things as well as you. And this fear is keeping you working hard, putting in more and more hours whilst you avoid doing anything about it.

You see, pursuing perfection is something that keeps us in the slow lane – it’s simply a form of procrastination. You’re putting something off in the fear that it won’t be perfect.

And how is this impacting you and your business? It’s keeping you exactly where you are now.

Whereas pursuing excellence is about getting stuff out there, and learning, and improving.

Being comfortable with ‘imperfect progress.’

Recognising that you only learn and get feedback on how to improve something once you’ve done that first step.

Put the website live. Launch the new idea. Hire a new team member.

Once you do it, you’re on your journey towards excellence.

“I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God’s business.” – Michael J. Fox

Start doing all the things you’ve been holding off on until they’re perfect, and recognise that by doing it, you’re pursuing excellence instead.​

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Alison Bradford

Alison Bradford is a business coach who works with smart, ambitious business owners to get clarity about how they can grow their business and increase profit. Sign up here to learn 6 easy ways you can boost profit in your business today.
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