• Articles
  • About
  • Newsletter
  • Resources
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
Updates
Research Reports
Become a member
Steady Compounding
  • Articles
  • About
  • Newsletter
  • Resources
  • Log In
Research Reports
Become a member
Steady Compounding
JOIN

The Problem with Perfectionism

Thomas Chua by Thomas Chua
March 22, 2021
in Life
Reading Time: 5 mins read
A A
The Problem with Perfectionism

Back in the days when I was a student going through my business communication module, there was a class on interviewing skills.

The instructor asked for volunteers and one of the questions went like this:

Instructor: Tell me about your biggest weakness.

Response: I’m a perfectionist. I spend too much time getting caught up in the little details…

Cringe.

This was a decade back when this response was considered the model answer for “what’s your biggest flaw” type of questions.

This poster, found on the walls of... - Facebook for Education | Facebook
Poster on walls of Facebook office

Today, with technology and best practices changing so rapidly, perfectionism would be crippling to most organizations.

Agile, Scrum and Kanban are the buzzwords for innovation for almost every organization nowadays. They focus on incremental changes, testing, and modifications, rather than in-depth planning right at the beginning.

“If you think that’s a big failure, we’re working on much bigger failures right now — and I am not kidding. Some of them are going to make the Fire Phone look like a tiny little blip.”

Jeff Bezos on the failure of the Fire Phone

Successful organizations are increasingly aware of the importance of trying out, going fast and making progress instead of executing only when there’s a ‘perfect’ idea.

What’s Wrong with Being a Perfectionist?

It is paralyzing.

“Perfectionism is insecurity with lipstick on it”

Gary Vaynerchuk

The quest for perfectionism is a defense mechanism that prevents us from doing anything. It is the worst procrastination tool around.

The true perfectionist will not try new things, because they know it will never be perfect.

If you’re looking for a perfect life, you will never enjoy living.
If you’re looking for a perfect opportunity, you will never find it.
If you’re looking for the perfect investment, you will never invest.
If you’re looking for the perfect relationship, you will never find anyone.

Many know that their life could be better by investing, getting insured, publishing their content publicly, or pursuing their dreams.

But most would never do it.

“Investing is too risky, best left to professionals.”

“It has already been done by many others, I’m too late to try.”

“I don’t think I’m good enough.”

We are afraid that we have no talent. We fear that we will be rejected, criticized, ridiculed or misunderstood or — worst of all — not be heard.

But we forget that the path to being good at anything begins with a single step.

The Gap between Expectations and Reality

We often look at our idols—be it Michael Jordan for basketball, Warren Buffett for investing, J.K. Rowling for writing or Jeff Bezos for running businesses—and we marvel at how good they are.

We start setting unrealistic expectations for ourselves as amateurs and compare ourselves with our idols. We measure ourselves by what we see on the surface — perfection.

Our perfectionism starts to torture us when we overlook how hard others have worked or suffered before reaching ‘perfection’.

The original Amazon website (August 1995)
The original Amazon website (1995)

Amazon did not start out as the e-commerce powerhouse it is today. Jeff Bezos was rejected multiple times when trying to raise funds in 1994.

He said, “I had to take 60 meetings to raise $1 million, and I raised it from 22 people at approximately $50,000 a person.”

In the book The Everything Store, Bezos started out packing books, rushing to meet customers orders, and struggled to find supplies.

Nothing was easy nor instant. Bezos achieved what he has today through a constant struggle of refining, testing, failing, and improving. This is what it took for Amazon to become the foremost e-commerce store.

What Do We Do?

Start the process by not judging yourself.

At least not in the short term. Don’t judge yourself in a day, or weeks, or months. Judge yourself in a life.

Don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good.

Focus on progress, not perfection.


Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.

If you’re enjoying the content so far, I’m sure you’ll find 3-Bullet Sunday helpful. As an extension to the regular posts, I send out weekly newsletters sharing timeless ideas on life and finance.

I do not share this content elsewhere.

Join others and subscribe to our newsletter today to receive a free investment checklist!

Tags: lifelifelong learningmotivationself-help
Previous Post

How Growth, Return on Capital, and Discount Rate Affect Valuation

Next Post

Domino’s Pizza: How to Better Understand Restaurant Franchises

Thomas Chua

Thomas Chua

I write about investing frameworks and growth philosophies that helped me achieve financial security.

Related Posts

The 2021 Steady Compounding Year in Review
Life

The 2021 Steady Compounding Year in Review

December 25, 2021
Building Your Second Brain
Life

Building Your Second Brain

August 22, 2021
I’ve Left My Stable 9-5 Job, Now What?
Life

I’ve Left My Stable 9-5 Job, Now What?

June 16, 2021
Why I Left My Iron Rice Bowl
Life

Why I Left My Iron Rice Bowl

June 4, 2021
Is Business School Worth It?
Life

Is Business School Worth It?

June 16, 2021
The Advice I Didn’t Need
Life

The Advice I Didn’t Need

March 22, 2021

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

© 2021 Steady Compounding - By Thomas Chua

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Sponsorship
  • Speaking
  • Newsletter
  • Membership
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Disclaimer

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Newsletter
  • Resources
  • Log In

© 2021 Steady Compounding - By Thomas Chua

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In