Perfectionism is the enemy of creating valuable content
Having trouble sharing your thoughts through content because they’re not “perfect?”
You’re not alone.
For many years, I struggled with perfectionism.
In college and grad school, I’d write a paper and proofread it at least 10 times before it was ready for submission. I was obsessed with grammar, punctuation, tense and tone…
...to the point of sheer madness. It was a really time-consuming, and mind-numbing, experience.
Fast-forward to the beginning of my photography business, where I would spend hours on one photo, determined to get it exactly the way I thought it needed to be.
Oh, the photo after the first 10-20 minutes of cleanup work was clearly over-delivering on the promise I made to my client, but my obsession with perfection was the root cause of all the added, and completely unnecessary, editing work.
But, after speaking with a therapist, I realized that the root cause of my perfectionism had nothing to do with improving the overall quality of the work.
It had everything to do with my desire for ultimate control over certain aspects of my life. And, based on where I was with my life at the time, that insight deeply resonated with me and made me pause and reflect on what I was doing to myself for no good reason.
From that moment on, I no longer aimed for perfection, but rather, the goal was to consistently get better at the work everyday.
This re-framing in my mind affected every area of my life, including the work I create with my camera, and the way I create content.
The work is no longer too precious to be protected based on the thought that it’s “not there yet.”
Instead, it’s exactly where it needs to be based on the moment, and that’s more than good enough to share.
It’s more valuable to share something less polished in a timely and purposeful manner than to sit on it for hours, weeks and years until it’s supposedly ready for prime time in front of an audience.
I share my story with you because throughout many conversations I’ve had with speakers, authors, consultants and other experts, I’ve heard their perfectionist tendencies holding them back from sharing their stories (social posts and blogs) of transformation with those they serve.
Ultimately, this approach hurts not only these experts’ marketing and promotional efforts, but it also hurts those who need them the most.
When you don’t consistently share value with an audience of folks whose problems can be solved by your expertise, they’ll never be able to discover you.
And who wins in this instance? That’s right, no one.
So, rather than partake in the zero sum game of creating content that is perfect, understand that there is no such thing as perfect…
...there’s only your experiences and expertise, and an internet full of folks who need your anecdotes and experiences shared in your posts to realize that you can be the person to get them over the hump.
Perfectionism is overrated anyway :)
Over to you…
Has the perfectionism game affected the way that you share content with your audience? If so, how? Please share in the comment section below.