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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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.

As I mentioned yesterday in my podcast intro, I’m forgoing the usual weekend introduction and just diving right in. This weekend, I’m doing a couple of shorter episodes that can help you with practical aspects of your writing.

On today’s post, I’d love to dive into the topic of perfectionism. This is an area where so many writers struggle. We have this ideal of what we should be writing, or the kind of success we should be having, and then we get stuck because it seems unattainable.

I used to struggle with this a lot more. Honestly, when I started doing a daily podcast, and when I started doing more client work, this tendency went away simply because I had to create on demand. There wasn’t really time to sit and analyze my writing to death. I had to get it in shape, then get it out the door and move on to the next thing.

I want to share the most helpful way that I started to beat perfectionism. I started making it my goal to produce B-level work in everything I did. I think it was the author Sean McCabe who I once heard say, “Your 90% is everyone else’s 100%.” There is a lot of wisdom in that approach because, if you’re a perfectionist, your standards are so high that almost no one can achieve them. So, if you just shoot for 90%, everyone else will perceive that as 100%.

This was immensely helpful to me, and I translated this concept into a grading metaphor since I was a teacher for a long time.

So how does this apply in real life? It just means that you get your work to the level that is a solid B+. What does that mean specifically? Well, it depends on your perception of what a B+ is, the type of work you’re doing, and so forth.

If you’re a heart surgeon, a B+ won’t cut it because you have to be perfect. But we’re talking about writing, not heart surgery. The way this applies to me is that when I create material for my podcast or a book, I get it to a level where I think, “Yeah, that’s pretty good and will help someone.”

I don’t spend excessive time wordsmithing things. I don’t obsess over every word. I make sure it’s clear and has some kind of practical application. And, of course, I make sure there are as few grammar and spelling errors as possible. And when it comes to client work or paid products like books, of course, I bring in editors and sometimes beta readers for more support.

Perfectionism is not about the reader you’re serving, it’s about you. If you’re obsessed with perfection to the point where you can’t create, that’s a very self-centered approach to your work. Start focusing on the reader and the people you are trying to help. Get your work to a B+ level and then ship it.

When you obsessively focus on trying to help people instead of obsessing over what people think of you, you will enjoy writing a lot more and be far more productive.

The post The Best Way to Stop Being a Perfectionist 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.