Inverting Your Quest for Perfectionism at Work

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

-Voltaire

Striving to be perfect can undo the work of even the best employees as they let a frantic search for mistakes slow down their projects and miss deadlines. That desire to be perfect causes unnecessary anxiety and is a frequent symptom of imposter syndrome. Perfectionism hurts productivity, health, and well-being. Here are a few tips for breaking the habit:

• Realize no one’s perfect
• Set realistic goals and reward yourself as you achieve them
• Don’t compare yourself to others

Find Your Niche: A Career Podcast host Lori Cole dives into how to combat the constant need to be perfect in today’s episode. In addition to her own experiences, she discusses the matter with Karith Foster, author of “You Can Be Perfect or You Can Be Happy.” Foster witnesses these struggles with companies incorporating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs into their culture and her Inversity program aims to help companies achieve those goals in an inclusive way.

Find a Job That's Right for You!

Register to gain access to our unique job seeker tools and find your next job

Get Started

Sign in with Google

Sign in with LinkedIn

Sign in with Apple

Or, use your email address:

Next

We value your privacy.

Listen to the full episode to learn how to overcome perfectionism at work, and subscribe to Find Your Niche for more career advice.