What’s holding you back from success? Perfection

The last couple of weeks we have reviewed Rory Vaden’s keys to success, or better stated, the mental hurdles those striving towards success encounter.  Vaden believes the unsuccessful display one or more of the following attributes: FEAR, Entitlement, and/or Perfectionism.  As we have reviewed the first two, this week we set our focus on Perfectionism.

It’s great to want to be the best at the tasks we take on, but waiting for perfection (the perfect time, or the perfect conditions, etc.) is a recipe for disaster. The way we justify this mentality is based on two factors: 1) we think that if we wait, things will get better, and 2) we know that if we don’t try we won’t fail.  So instead of moving forward, we sit and wait.  We wait for the perfect procedure, we wait for the perfect prospect, we wait until the company comes up with a new improved product.  The problem with this is a perfect plan, perfect product, perfect tool never shows up.  The most widely known example of not waiting for perfection is the very first PowerBar; if you were one of the unlucky to try it, it probably made you gag.  It was a chewy and utterly tasteless mass of goo in a metallic wrapper.  PowerBar initially received mixed reviews; serious athletes liked since it met their needs, but the taste and consistency didn’t work for the general public.  The company knew this when they released the product, but they released it anyway. With the help of customer feedback, they modified the recipe, changed the packaging and marketing strategy to build a strong following worldwide. PowerBar eventually became a $150 million business, creating a $1 billion energy bar market segment. In 2000, Nestle bought the brand for about $350 million. Think about the outcome if they waited to get the recipe just right…do you think Nestle would have paid $350 million?

I do understand that failure is scary, but failing once and waiting for perfect conditions to try again—well, think about it. Most people would have never met their current spouses, decided to get behind the wheel again after their first accident as a teenager, etc. Things will happen around us and to us: based on our actions, the actions of others, and even random acts of nature or flukes.  The moral is that perfection is a myth; things will never be perfect to start, we can only control our actions/reactions to get where we want to be in life. We have to own our situations as they are and “MacGyver” our way through, all the while learning important things about ourselves, and at times learning how to be resourceful and creatively solve a problem in an emergency situation.

Successful reps take action despite knowing the outcome; they understand the road to success can and will get bumpy.  They are comfortable with the unknown, and with short-term imperfection.  They get in the OR, they close for action, and push for results.  The cure for perfectionism is action, being relentless in the pursuit of progress.  As Rory states, “You overcome perfectionism by insisting not on stellar results, but on stellar effort.” When you make a decision of inaction (opting for the safe place of comfort) it becomes a self-limiting behavior that leads to lack of results and success.