HEY EVERYBODY. ARE YOU BEING PARALYZED BY
PERFECTIONISM? ARE YOU OVERANALYZING? ARE
YOU STRUGGLING TO GET THINGS DONE, TO GET
THINGS OUT, TO MEET DEADLINES, BECAUSE
YOU'RE A PERFECTIONIST? OR ARE YOU
WORKING TOO MANY HOURS ON THINGS FOR THE
SAME REASON? OR EVEN STRUGGLING TO START?
WELL LOOK, STAY WITH ME BECAUSE AT THE
END OF THIS VIDEO YOU'RE GOING TO KNOW
HOW TO STOP BEING PARALYZED BY
PERFECTION, AND GET UNSTUCK, AND GET
MOVING! AAD STAY RIGHT AT THE END BECAUSE
I'VE GOT A FREEBIE FOR YOU. MY NAME'S
STEVE AND I COACH PROFESSIONAL PEOPLE
LIKE YOU ON FINDING WAYS TO SUCCEED FROM
A HAPPIER AND MORE GROUNDED PLACE, SO FOR
THE BEST CONTENT IN THOSE THEMES THEN
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THIS CHANNEL AND
DON'T FORGET TO HIT THE BELL SO YOU'LL GET
NOTIFIED WHEN NEW CONTENT ARRIVES! NOW
LOOK, I WANT YOU TO BE EXCELLENT, I REALLY
DO, BUT THE IRONY OF PERFECTIONISM IS
THAT IT KILLS PROGRESS AND PROGRESS IS
WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS! THERE WOULDN'T BE
ANY CARS OR COMPUTERS TODAY IF EVERYBODY
SUFFERED FROM PERFECTIONIST PARALYSIS IN
CREATING THOSE PRODUCTS. THIS ISN'T
SOMETHING THAT I BELIEVE, THIS IS
SELF EVIDENT FROM ALL AROUND US, JUST
LOOK AT WHAT'S HAPPENING IN DIGITAL
APPLICATIONS, HOW FAST THINGS COME OUT
AND HOW FAST IMPROVEMENTS COME OUT. THAT
IS AN INDUSTRY THAT KNOWS ABOUT PROGRESS
OVER PERFECTIONISM AND WITH THAT IN MIND
MY FIRST TIP TO YOU IS TO LOOK AT WHAT'S
GOING ON WITH DIGITAL SOFTWARE
DEVELOPMENT, TO BORROW FROM THEIR AGILE
DEVELOPMENT TECHNIQUES. YOU SEE IN
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING, AGILE DEVELOPMENT
METHODS HAVE BECOME THE MODERN ANTIDOTE
TO SOFTWARE PERFECTIONISM AND IT SHOWS
US HOW WE CAN DO PROGRESS OVER
PERFECTION. AGILE METHODS REPLACE LONG
MONOLITHIC SOFTWARE PROJECTS THAT WILL
RELEASE NOTHING UNTIL EVERYTHING IS
COMPLETE AND TESTED, WITH SOFTWARE
PROJECTS THAT QUICKLY GET TO WHAT THEY
CALL A MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT, AND THEN
REGULARLY RELEASE INCREMENTAL
UPDATES. PROGRESS OVER PERFECTION. SO
WHATEVER YOUR PERSONAL PROJECT IS ASK
YOURSELF WHAT IS THE MINIMUM VIABLE
PRODUCT WHAT IS, THE LEAST THAT YOU CAN
DO BEFORE YOU CAN SHARE IT WITH THE
FIRST PERSON THAT YOU ARE SHARING WITH.
NOW I KNOW THAT THAT'S NOT THE FINAL
PRODUCT, IT MIGHT NOT BE READY ENOUGH FOR
IT TO GO LARGE, WE'RE ONLY TALKING ABOUT
THE SMALLEST THING THAT NEEDS TO BE
READY FOR THE FIRST PERSON THAT YOU'RE
GOING TO SHARE IT WITH, AND YOU'RE GOING
TO INCREMENTALLY IMPROVE IT FROM THERE,
SO BUILD THAT, BUILD THAT MINIMUM VIABLE
PRODUCT, SHARE IT WITH THAT FIRST PERSON,
THEN START TO GET FEEDBACK, START GETTING
INCREMENTAL! NOW TIP NUMBER TWO IS TO
OBSERVE THE 80/20 RULE, ALSO KNOWN AS THE
PARETO PRINCIPLE. NOW THIS HAS ITS
ORIGINS AS AN ECONOMIC OBSERVATION AND
IT OBSERVES THAT 80% OF THE OUTPUTS IN
ANY SYSTEM ARE CAUSED BY PROBABLY 20% OF
THE INPUTS, SO TO ADAPT THAT, LET'S THINK
ABOUT IT LIKE THIS: IF IT TAKES 100 UNITS
OF EFFORT TO PRODUCE 100% OF THE OUTPUT
THEN PROBABLY IT ONLY TAKES 20 UNITS OF
EFFORT TO DELIVER THE FIRST 80 UNITS OF
OUTPUT. THE OTHER 80 UNITS OF EFFORT ARE
PRODUCING THE REMAINING 20 UNITS OF
OUTPUT. NOW WHAT THAT MEANS IN PRACTICE
IS THAT YOU COULD PRODUCE 80% OF THE
OUTPUTS OF FIVE SYSTEMS IN THE SAME TIME
IT WOULD TAKE YOU TO PRODUCE 100% OF THE
OUTPUT IN ONE SYSTEM, PROBABLY. IT MIGHT
BE MORE LIKE 70/30 THAN 80/20 BUT YOU
GET THE POINT THAT I'M MAKING THOUGH. NOW
IF FIVE LOTS OF 80% IS A LOT MORE
VALUABLE TO YOU THAN ONE LOT OF A
HUNDRED PERCENT THEN THAT POINTS AT
DOING THE 20% THAT CREATES THE 80% IN
EACH PROJECT FIRST. BY THE WAY WHERE ARE
YOU BEING A PERFECTIONIST? AND WHAT IS IT
COSTING YOU? HOW HAVE YOU LEARNED TO DEAL
WITH PERFECTIONISM, IF YOU HAVE? IF YOU'RE
OKAY WITH SHARING THIS PLEASE LEAVE IT
AS A COMMENT,
I WILL READ EVERY COMMENT AND
I'LL TRY TO REPLY IT TO AS MANY OF THEM
AS I CAN.
NOW TIP NUMBER THREE IS TO USE TIME
BOXES. NOW IF YOU WERE A WRITER FOR A
NEWSPAPER THEN YOU FACE THE EXPERIENCE
WHERE YOU EITHER GET YOUR ARTICLE
WRITTEN BY MIDNIGHT AND GET IT TO THE
EDITOR, OR TOMORROW THE FRONT PAGE IS A
HUGELY EMBARRASSING BLANK PLATE. IN A
POSITION LIKE THAT YOU SOON GET OVER
YOUR PERFECTIONIST PARALYSIS, BECAUSE
YOU'VE GOT TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE GOT
SOMETHING PUBLISHABLE BY THAT TIME. NOW
TOWN BOXES ARE A WAY OF SAYING I'M
GIVING MYSELF THIS MUCH TIME. I HAVE GOT
TO PRODUCE SOMETHING IN THIS MUCH TIME,
OR WHATEVER I'VE GOT, AT THE END OF THIS
TIME I AM DONE WITH. NOW WHEN I WRITE
THESE VIDEO SCRIPTS I FACE SIMILAR
SITUATIONS. I COULD GET INTO
PERFECTIONIST PARALYSIS REALLY EASILY
AND I HAVE DONE, I'LL BE HONEST WITH YOU
ABOUT THAT, BUT WHEN I TIME BOX THINGS,
THAT'S WHEN I SAY LOOK I'M SHUTTING
EVERYTHING DOWN AT WHATEVER TIME IT IS,
SO WHATEVER I'VE GOT AT THAT TIME IS IT.
SO LET'S JUST PRODUCE THE BEST THING WE
CAN IN THAT TIME AND BE DONE WITH IT.
AND I SOMETIMES LIKE TO GET MYSELF GOING
WITH THE TIME BOX BY SAYING TO MYSELF,
STEVE, YOU'VE GOT 90 MINUTES, GO! NUMBER
FOUR IS TO GET INTO THE HABIT OF
THINKING IN TERMS OF GOOD ENOUGH. I USED
TO WORK WITH AN IT DIRECTOR WHO ALWAYS
USED TO REMIND ME THAT THE OBJECTIVE IN
SITTING AN EXAM IS NOT TO GET 100%, IT IS
TO PASS, AND OUR DAILY ACTIVITIES ARE
SIMILAR. ANY TIME YOU CATCH YOURSELF
TRYING TO BE PERFECT, CATCH YOURSELF AND
TRY TO BE GOOD ENOUGH INSTEAD. ANYTIME
YOU ARE THINKING IN TERMS OF PERFECTION,
CATCH YOURSELF AND THINK IN TERMS OF
GOOD ENOUGH INSTEAD. NOW DON'T GET ME
WRONG IT IS GOOD TO HAVE YOUR EYE ON
PERFECTION, OR AT LEAST TO HAVE ONE EYE
ON PERFECTION. IT'S GOOD TO ADMIRE AND
ASPIRE TO WHAT PERFECTION LOOKS LIKE, BUT
KEEP THE OTHER EYE ON GOOD ENOUGH AND
GETTING WHAT
GOOD ENOUGH DONE IN THE TIME ALLOWED. NOW
IF YOU KNEW ME SOCIALLY YOU'D KNOW THAT
ONE OF MY SOCIAL INTERESTS IS I LOVE
MUSIC
FROM THE MOVIES AND SOMETIMES THINGS I
THINK THIS IS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF THIS. IF
YOU WRITE MUSIC FOR THE MOVIES YOU ARE
PROBABLY ASPIRING TO MOZART AND
BEETHOVEN IF YOU'RE INTO THE CLASSICAL
STYLE OR THE GREATEST PEOPLE IN JAZZ IF
YOU'RE INTO THAT, BUT AT THE
SAME TIME WHEN YOU'VE GOT TO WRITE MUSIC
FOR A FILM, YOU'VE PROBABLY GOT FOUR TO
SIX WEEKS TO WRITE MAYBE AN HOUR, AN HOUR
AND A HALF, TWO HOURS WORTH OF MUSIC, SO
YOU MIGHT BE ASPIRING TO MOZART, YOU
MIGHT BE ASPIRING TO MENDELSSOHN, AND YOU
MIGHT BE LISTENING TO THOSE FOLKS AND
ADMIRING WHAT THEY'RE DOING AND ASPIRING
TOWARDS IT, BUT AT THE SAME TIME YOU
MUST BE GETTING MUSIC OUT AT A CERTAIN
RATE, AND THAT'S A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF
KEEPING ONE EYE ON WHAT PERFECTION LOOKS
LIKE FOR CONTINUOUS SELF-IMPROVEMENT, BUT
ONE EYE ON GOOD ENOUGH TO GET THE JOB
DONE IN THE TIME ALLOWED. AND TIP NUMBER
FIVE IS TO KNOW WHAT PERFECTIONISM IS
COSTING YOU. I SAID EARLIER THAT WE
PROBABLY WOULDN'T HAVE CARS OR COMPUTERS
TODAY IF THERE WAS PERFECTIONIST
PARALYSIS ABOUT GETTING THE FIRST ONES
OUT. REMEMBER THE WORLD NEEDS PROGRESS
NOT PERFECTION. NOW WHAT YOU'RE NOT
GETTING DONE BECAUSE OF PERFECTION IS
WHAT IT'S COSTING YOU. WHAT IT'S COSTING
YOU IN TIME, WHAT IT'S COSTING YOU IN
MONEY,
WHAT IS COSTING YOU IN RELATIONSHIPS AND
LIFE EXPERIENCES. GET CONSCIOUS OF THAT!
TIME IS A ZERO-SUM GAME, YOU CAN'T SAVE
IT UP, YOU CAN'T BORROW IT, YOU CAN'T GET
IT BACK YOU KNOW, IT GOES AND IT'S GONE.
WHEN YOU BECOME CONSCIOUS OF WHAT IT'S
COSTING YOU TO BE A PERFECTIONIST THEN
IT GETS A LOT EASIER TO FIND THE
MOTIVATION TO THINK IN TERMS OF GOOD
ENOUGH, TO TIME BOX THINGS, AND TO CREATE
PROGRESS RATHER THAN PERFECTION. AND BY
THE WAY TO BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE THAT YOU
PROBABLY HAVE TO GET YOUR EGO OUT OF THE
WAY BECAUSE PERFECTIONISM IS COMING FROM
THE EGO. LIKE I SAID IN LAST WEEK'S VIDEO,
YOU KIND OF HAVE TO SEE EVERYTHING AS A
PROBLEM TO SOLVE, SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN
INVEST YOUR CREATIVITY AND YOUR ENERGY
IN BUT NOT SOMETHING THAT MEANS
SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR
EGO. WITH THE EGO OUT OF THE WAY IT'S A
LOT EASIER TO LET GO OF PERFECTIONIST
PARALYSIS.
NOW I MENTIONED A FREEBEE. YES! IF YOU GO
DOWN TO THE DESCRIPTION BELOW THIS VIDEO
OR THE PINNED COMMENT, EITHER WILL DO,
YOU'LL FIND A LINK THAT WILL GIVE YOU
ACCESS TO MY FREE GUIDE ON HOW TO MANAGE
STRESS IN THE MOMENT AND MAKE BETTER
DECISIONS UNDER PRESSURE. BY ALL MEANS
HELP YOURSELF AND PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO
LIKE THIS VIDEO IF YOU DID LIKE IT, AND
SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHANNEL.