Do you struggle with being a perfectionist? If so, let’s talk about a strategy that can help you overcome it immediately.

But first, let’s deal with this question: what is perfectionism?

Perfectionism is the tendency to get paralyzed by the idea that your work is never good enough. Perfectionists imagine there is a standard out there and they can never reach it. They have convinced themselves that they will be an utter failure unless they reach that impossible standard. Therefore, they never take action and instead live in a perpetual state of frustration.

Now, for the strategy to help you overcome perfectionism.

If you think of yourself as a perfectionist, you are always shooting for “A-level” work. The problem is that your definition of an “A” is so far above everyone else’s that it’s unreachable.

They key is to have more realistic standards. You need to adjust your standard of perfectionism so that you are shooting for “B-level” work, maybe a “B+” at best. You may think of this as lowering your standards, but remember that your standards are so unrealistically elevated, that your B is everyone else’s A.

So make it your goal to do B-level writing. Most of us don’t have the capacity to be objective about our work anyway, so you must trust that your B is truly an A in everyone else’s eyes.

When you shoot for a B, you can get work done much more quickly, move on, and still be considered excellent in everyone else’s eyes. Plus, you can always improve your writing in the editing process.

Many a great writer has been sidelined because their standards were so high, they never finished that first draft. Don’t let that happen to you.

Question: How could adopting a strategy of doing “B-level” work help you get your first drafts done?

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This is not unique to writers. Anyone in a creative field, or anyone trying to build a career for that matter, faces this hurdle. How do you get people to sit up and take notice? How do you draw attention to what you are building?

The comedian Steve Martin famously said, “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” The simplicity of this statement is stunning. Those seven words contain the secret of getting noticed, building an audience, and all the other things writers and creatives want.

It’s worth asking ourselves whether we are committed enough to our writing craft to keep going until people notice us. Are we willing to put in the early mornings and late nights? Are we willing to keep rewriting and editing until it’s as good as we can possibly make it? Are we willing to try different things even though there is no guarantee it will work?

The answer to those kinds of questions will determine whether people will ignore us… or they will eventually sit up and take notice. It’s the willingness to do the work and to keep getting better—not necessarily your level in talent—that makes all the difference.

Question: Have you committed to becoming so good they can’t ignore you?

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Nothing could be further from the truth. Every single day is unique. It will never come around again. You only have this one shot, this one opportunity to live these twenty-four hours.

So you must treat today like the gift it truly is.

As a result, we have to treat our audience the same way. We have to show up every day, ready to write, ready to create, ready to serve. They deserve the best you can give.

The legendary singer Tony Bennett said, “If you walk out there like it’s just another night, the audience is going to treat you the same way.” Wise words from a man who has been entertaining and serving audiences for decades.

Question: Are you treating this day as the gift it truly is?

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The writer Matthew Kelly said, “It is important to understand that you are not writing a story or a book, or a sentence or a paragraph. You are writing a body of work. Whatever you are writing today is just one small part of that body of work.”

This helps take the pressure off because we can easily get stressed out by feeling like we have to create a perfect article, social media post, email, or book chapter every time we sit down to write. But no single thing we write is the defining element of our body of work. It’s part of a much larger whole.

If you’re writing a book, don’t think of it as one book, but many. What if you thought about writing a dozen books over the next ten years? How would that change your point of view? It takes the pressure off.

Whatever you’re writing, it’s just a snapshot of where you are right now in your learning and life. There is no end to your knowledge and learning. So just write it now and move on. Your legacy isn’t just one book. The one book doesn’t represent the end all, be all of your learning.

At the Taylor Guitars company, they said, “The best guitar we make is the one we make tomorrow.” In the same vein, the best book you write is the one you write tomorrow. Always be improving and adding a bit each day to your body of work.

Daily Question: Does thinking about your writing as a larger body of work help take the pressure off what you are working on now?

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When I became a college professor in 2004, one of the courses I was assigned was Introduction to the Arts. It was a basic survey course covering visual art, architecture, music, theatre, and film from a Christian philosophical viewpoint.

The area I knew the least about was architecture. I had always been fascinated by it, but never studied it in-depth. Over the years, as I have learned more about architecture, it has become one of my favorite subjects.

I’m especially drawn to Gothic cathedrals. These medieval works of art represent one of the pinnacles of human ingenuity and creativity. The designers, laborers, and craftsmen worked for decades, in some cases centuries, to complete these massive projects.

My personal favorite is Chartes Cathedral in France. Built from 1194-1260, it’s one of the oldest Gothic cathedrals. Chartes is famous for several iconic features, including its beautiful stained-glass windows, a medieval labyrinth, and a purported relic of the Virgin Mary’s tunic.

Consider the mindset of the artists and craftsmen who built Gothic cathedrals. They worked to build something they knew would outlive them—not only by decades, but by centuries.

That’s a stark contrast to today’s creative world, where we don’t normally think in centuries or decades, or even years. We think in weeks and days, hours and moments.

Today, most of our creative work is designed for quick consumption. We share social media posts that we hope people “like” in the 30 minutes after the update. We write blog posts that we hope go viral in the days after they are published. We hope our book or album gets traction in the weeks and months after it’s released. We hope our podcast or video gets downloaded thousands (or millions!) of times.

I’m not saying those things are bad. I engage in all those mediums, and more. But is there a way to balance the need for relevance and timeliness with a more long-term perspective on our creative work?

The real question is: Will your creative work outlive you? We don’t create just for today. We create for decades from today. So let us create, work, and write with excellence. With high standards. And with a view to impact not just people today… but many years from now, just as we enjoy the Gothic cathedrals today, many hundreds of years after they were built.

Daily Question: How do you think your writing might impact people decades into the future?

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You’ve heard the saying, “The devil is in the details.” This refers to the fact that when things go wrong, many times it is the little things that can derail a project or even a business or relationship.

Angels are in the details, too. This is especially true when it comes to creating a product like a book. Things like cover design, interior formatting, layout, margins, spelling and grammar, proper citation of sources, and so many other things make a big difference.

Here’s one example from the world of music. Listen to Paul McCartney’s bass lines in virtually any Beatles song. He constantly adds in tiny details that make it so much more than a standard bass line. There is musicianship and artistry, and you can hear it if you listen closely.

The lesson here is to go the extra mile for your readers. Why? Because you care about them. You care about your craft. You want to give it your best. John Updike said, “Creativity is merely a plus name for regular creativity. Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or better.”

Don’t let the devil get in the details. Let the angels in and they will bring excellence and a quality to your work that makes it shine.

Daily Question: Are you willing to spend the extra time on details to help ensure you are creating something excellent, something you will be proud of?

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We all know that perfectionism can be debilitating. It can rob you of the joy of writing and cause you to waste endless amounts of time fidgeting with your material.

Just like a rainbow, perfection is an illusion. You can chase a rainbow but you will never find the end of it. In the same way, you can chase perfection but you’ll never reach it. As author Neil Gaiman said, “Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.”

Here is a simple cure: pretend you have one year to live. With this knowledge, would you continue to work on this piece or would you move on to the next thing?

Perfectionism tells us the lie that we have all the time in the world. The reality is, you don’t. Your life has an expiration date. But unlike the food products in your house that have an expiration date, you don’t know when yours is.

It’s never a bad thing to maintain a sense of urgency about life. If it were all over a year from now, how would that change your writing?

The post The One Year to Live Test appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

On this episode, I’m thrilled to be joined by one of my best friends in the world, Jared Odle. He’s a missionary, copywriter, and an all-around fantastic guy. This will be the first of probably lots of conversations we feature here on the podcast on different topics related to writing.

Today we discuss the topic: What does it mean to be an A+ writer? How do we determine what excellence is? What’s our standard? This is a fascinating conversation, and I hope this inspires you to keep doing the work and not get hung up on trying to be perfect.

The post Daily Writer on What It Means to Be an “A+” Writer appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

Do you struggle with being a perfectionist? If so, here is a strategy that can help you overcome it immediately.

But first, what is perfectionism? It is the tendency to get paralyzed by the idea that your work is never good enough. Perfectionists imagine there is a standard out there and they can never reach it. They have convinced themselves that they will be an utter failure unless they reach that unreachable standard. Therefore, they never take action and instead live in a perpetual state of frustration.

Now, for the strategy. If you think of yourself as a perfectionist, you are always shooting for A-level work. The problem is that your definition of an A is so far above everyone else’s that it’s unreachable.

The key is to downgrade your standards a bit so that you are shooting for B-level work, maybe a B+ at best. You may think of this as lowering your standards, but remember that your standards are so unrealistically elevated, that your B is everyone else’s A.

So, make it your goal to do B-level writing. Most of us don’t have the capacity to be objective about our work anyway, so you must trust that your B is truly an A in everyone else’s eyes.

When you shoot for a B, you can get work done much more quickly, move on, and still be considered excellent in everyone else’s eyes.

The post Bring Your ‘B’ Game appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

If you’re of “a certain age,” you probably remember watching Bob Ross on his TV show “The Joy of Painting,” which he hosted on PBS from 1983-1994. If you’re a little younger, you’ve probably discovered him on the internet, where he has developed an even bigger following.

Each week on his show, Bob painted a mesmerizing landscape in just half an hour. He was known for his soft-spoken style, his signature permed hair, and his uncanny ability to make you believe that just like him, you could paint a masterpiece.

Most of Bob’s viewers didn’t know that he meticulously planned out his paintings in advance. He would create the original painting, memorize every brushstroke, then paint the scene a second time during the taping of the show.

Every once in a while, Bob would make a tiny mistake and then repeat his signature phrase, “We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.” Then he would either paint over the mistake or find a way to blend it into the scene.

There is a good lesson here not only for painters, but for every kind of artist. We like to beat ourselves up for mistakes. We are disappointed when we mess up or don’t perform perfectly.

But remember, you’re human. You’re imperfect. You won’t get it right every time. In fact, there are times when you will flat-out bomb. That book, that blog post, that article, that lesson or speech won’t go as planned, and in those moments the last thing you want to do is celebrate your mistakes.

But what if, instead of painting over those flaws and imperfections, you accepted them as a part of the picture? And not only accepted them… but celebrated them?

It doesn’t mean we compromise our standards. We can still reach for excellence while also accepting our humanity. Those happy little accidents, if we learn from them, can be the pathway to a life that is more beautiful and scenic than all the perfect paintings in the world.

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