{"id":22141,"date":"2011-07-08T12:26:44","date_gmt":"2011-07-08T16:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/countingpips.com\/fx\/?p=22141"},"modified":"2011-07-08T12:26:44","modified_gmt":"2011-07-08T16:26:44","slug":"perfectionism-vs-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/2011\/07\/08\/perfectionism-vs-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Perfectionism vs. Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Early To Rise<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBob,\u201d my partners and business associates would often say to me, \u201cyou are a great detail guy. We love your reports. We can always count on you to strive for perfection.\u201d<\/p>\n

I wore those words the way a proud war veteran wears his medals. But the truth is, those \u201cmedals\u201d were a millstone around my neck and were slowing me down. My perfectionism was a time-wasting, money-losing goal killer that probably doubled the time it took me to be successful.<\/p>\n

My \u201cAha!\u201d moment came 10 years ago. A client had hired me to take charge of negotiating a three-year, $10,000,000 contract with a healthcare provider. It took four months, eight meetings with principals, 12 revisions of the contract, endless phone calls, and hundreds of documents and data reviews.<\/p>\n

It was perfect and everyone was satisfied. All parties involved signed the contract. I was exhausted yet excited and thrilled that the ordeal was over\u2026 and would not begin again for another three years.<\/p>\n

But a mere 60 days after signing the contract, the service provider notified my client that they were exercising the \u201cout clause\u201d \u2013 two sentences (signed off on by our attorneys) that allowed them to cancel. Turns out there were a few important details that hadn\u2019t been covered.<\/p>\n

Unbelievable as it was, we had to re-negotiate.<\/p>\n

I was again asked to take charge. This time, I informed everyone involved that we would have only one meeting for resolution. They were to come prepared to compromise and to make a decision. They did, and a new contract was quickly written and signed.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when I realized that this is the way I should have handled the negotiation from the beginning. I should have aimed for \u201cgood\u201d and then<\/em> aimed for \u201cbetter\u201d once we were sure we had the essence of the contract on paper. It would have been far more productive than wasting everyone\u2019s time with my need to perfect every little detail.<\/p>\n

\n

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Is perfectionism keeping you from accomplishing your goals?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Have you ever said something like:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis report has to be perfect before I turn it in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Or\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cMy presentation has to be perfect before I meet with the client.\u201d<\/p>\n

Problem is, perfection is impossible. And continuously striving for it can stall you \u2013 keep you from making progress on your goals and benefiting from the results.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, the very thought that you aren\u2019t doing something \u201cperfectly\u201d can stop you in your tracks and stomp on your motivation.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t fall into that trap.<\/p>\n

If, for example, you have to get a winning sales letter in the mail to achieve one of your business goals, take a shot at writing it. Aim for \u201cgood\u201d \u2013 and get it about 80% of the way there. Then test it. Once you have the test results, you will be able to aim for \u201cbetter,\u201d because you will have more information to work with.<\/p>\n

The 80% rule should be applied to every goal you set for yourself.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say you have been slaving away at a project. You\u2019ve been putting in long hours, and wearing yourself out. As a result, you are beginning to neglect your other job responsibilities \u2013 and even your health.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to put the 80% rule to work.<\/p>\n

Say to yourself, \u201cHave I achieved 80% of what I was aiming for with this project? If not, I will continue to work on it. If so, I will move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now this doesn\u2019t mean that you don\u2019t pour 100% of your energy and attention into your goals. It just means that you stop trying to make every detail perfect.<\/p>\n

It took me 25 years to learn the 80% rule. Do not wait that long to take advantage of this time-saving, money-making, and goal-achieving insider secret. Had I implemented the 80% rule much earlier, my success would have come much faster and easier. (I also would have had a lot more time to spend with my family.)<\/p>\n

If, like me, you are a perfectionist by nature, it won\u2019t be easy to keep your perfectionism at bay. It will take constant effort. But it will be well worth it.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why, for the past 10 years, this has been my rule: 80% means good to go! As Michael Masterson always says, \u201cReady, Fire, Aim.\u201d<\/p>\n

[Ed. Note<\/strong>: You can change your life and accomplish all your goals with simple strategies like Bob’s 80% rule. For dozens more ways to turn your dreams into reality – plus tons of goal-setting tools and motivation to get going – sign up for Bob Cox’s “The Billionaire in You” program. Learn more here<\/a><\/strong>.]<\/p>\n

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise<\/a>,<\/strong> a free newsletter dedicated to creating wealth<\/a> and success<\/a> through inspiration and practical, proven advice. For a complimentary subscription, visit http:\/\/www.earlytorise.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My \u201cAha!\u201d moment came 10 years ago. A client had hired me to take charge of negotiating a three-year, $10,000,000 contract with a healthcare provider. It took four months, eight meetings with principals, 12 revisions of the contract, endless phone calls, and hundreds of documents and data reviews.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22141\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}