Do you insist on perfection? Does everything need to be thoroughly researched, looked at, reviewed, analyzed, and looked at again? Do you spend hours and hours making sure everything is just right? Do you agonize over every detail? Not start until everything is in place?
Then I have one question for you…. how do you get anything done? My guess is you don’t.
Now there is a difference between quality and perfection. I truly believe you can execute on things (ideas, writing, goals, etc.) and maintain high quality. But in my consulting practice I find that when people work so hard to achieve perfection, they are actually searching for ways to procrastinate.
Often the quest for perfection is a shield to not really take action. It may appear as if you are working hard on making things happen, but it can actual serve as a mask for inaction.
Don’t wait for everything to be just right. It’s never all going to be just right. It’s more important to start taking action. Get in movement soon! The actions don’t have to be huge, they can be small. But by taking those small steps, you are actually moving forward. Think about it…. if you plan and plan and plan you can easily fall into what I call ‘analysis paralyses’. You are actually staying in the same place.
As Martin Luther King, Jr. so eloquently put it “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” Get into action. Get moving.
Yes, indeed! I like your analogy. One has to take the first small step to begin their journey into whatever it is they want to accomplish. And, if Risk and Motivation is absent, then a Plan will remain in File 13.