Krista: A perfectionist is-
Frank: Boring.
Krista: You might be a perfectionist-
Krista: Well, Webster defines a perfectionist as-
Frank: Emmanuel Lewis?
Krista: No.
Frank: I met him once.
Jillian: It doesn't matter who you are or what you do, perfectionism affects us all. Whether you're a designer, an account executive, a marketing manager, or just any type of human being, it's natural to want to be the very best. But, to expect perfectionism in everything you do is, well, stupid.
Krista: Jillian, you know that's not a very nice word.
Jillian: What? Stupid?
Krista: Yeah. I'm not sure I can support this episode. I mean, I tell my kids all the time not to use that word.
Jillian: Okay, but we're not actually calling anyone stupid, and I'm pretty sure you've said a lot worse.
Krista: You're right.
Jillian: Expecting perfect results isn't such a horrible trait to have. I mean, we should all be working towards some level of higher standards. But, it's when those standards start to get in your way, then you have a problem.
Krista: Absolutely. When perfection is all you're working towards, even the smallest task can become overwhelming. A lot of times, this can put you in a situation where you can't even start a project in fear that it won't be perfect, which is exhausting. Living flawlessly is a huge burden to bear.
Jillian: On top of that, you might still feel like it's not good enough. Even after putting in hours of research, execution and revisions, if given the time, you would tweak things forever.
Krista: Forever.
Jillian: Forever.
Krista: Forever.
Jillian: Forever.
Krista: And through all of this, if you're focusing on forming the perfect end result, you could be missing out on the beauty of the process, which is, of course, why we do what we do.
Jillian: Man, who would want to live like that?
Frank: Okay, that was good, but Jillian when you say the word man, a little more oomph on the ma. Moist. Just like that.
Grace: Baxter, our director of barketing, recently celebrated a landmark birthday. Unfortunately, something was missing. Frank, Josh, Dave, Jess, Mallory, Jillian and Sarah, to be exact. Krista was not invited. Baxter was quoted as saying, "Whatever, we had more fun without them." For those of you who didn't attend, we saved you a piece of cake.
Frank: Stop filming, David. That was close, but also terrible. Three more takes until it is P-E-R-F-E-C-T, perfect.
Jillian: Wow, that was stupid.
Krista: Yeah. I think it's time. You know we're always here for you, right? You're pressing way to hard. This episode has taken weeks. Sometimes, you just got to know-
Jillian: I'm just saying, not everything can share the same priority level. You've got to stop treating every task and project with the same importance. Lower the stakes. If you start a task with the expectations of a perfect outcome, you're setting yourself up to fail. Of course we want the end results to be the best solution, but it's unrealistic to put those types of demands on yourself.
Krista: If you think you're not good enough, well, that's simply not true. You need to take pride in your accomplishments. One practical way of doing this is by keeping a list of all of your achievements, big and small. This way you can reflect on all the great things you have done.
Jillian: But not every case of perfectionism requires a musical intervention. Controlling your perfectionist tendencies takes time and trusting yourself.
Krista: Right. The only way to get better at something is to put it out there, get feedback, and learn from your mistakes. Kind of like what we do every other week.
Jillian: Yeah, this show is definitely not perfect.
Frank: You can also use search.creativecomments.org to look at other sites ... Why can't I get this right? Why can't I get this right? Why can't I get this right?
Episode 6 - Perfect is Stupid
Expecting great results isn't such a horrible thing. But when those standards start to get in your way, then you've got a problem. In this episode, we're discussing that dirty "p" word (perfectionism -- get your mind out of the gutter). Sit back and watch as we break down why living flawlessly is a huge burden to bear, how to deal with the stress and when it's time to walk away.
There's singing in this one.