Seek Progress, Not Perfection
"I still bother with runners I call hamburgers. They're never going to run any record times. But they can fulfill their own potential."
- Bill Bowerman, University of Oregon Track Coach and Co-Founder of Nike
For whatever reason, I think that the rules that govern the Universe don't apply to me. This seems to manifest itself most of all in the work place. In my mind I believe that I should be able to go about my job and deal with each and every challenge effortlessly. I continually expect perfection from myself and when I don't get this, I become upset. Upset is not the word. I become physically pained from errors that I make.
Last night, for example, I found out that I may have made an error at work right before I left the office. It almost ruined my evening. I was able to get a long, painful swim in and break up all the negativity rolling around in my head. After the workout ended, I was the last person in the locker room. For whatever reason, I said out loud, "You are never going to be perfect. Life is not about perfect. This is about progress."
This is big lesson for me. Three years ago I was the last person to walk out of the locker room at swim practice and said, "If I could just get cancer, then I could quit work and nobody would think the less of me for quitting." Make your own judgements, but I call this progress.
Anyway, I wanted to put some stuff down on the blog that I have learned over the past year, which help to mitigate the effects of the "over achiever" syndrome that plagues me.
Set Reasonable Goals
Ultimately, goals should be something that force one to grow, but also create solid skill sets. As the adage goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day." The funny thing about this quote is that the Romans didn't try to build their great city in one day. Roman architects and engineers worked slowly, and methodically. They didn't build cities in days, but rather would build part of a wall or 1/10th of a mile of a road a day.
With this in mind, try to find ways to work on pieces of long-term goals each day. One of my goals is to be a corporate controller at my current place of employement. In order to get to that position, I will need to have mastery over fixed asset accounting--my current position within the company. In one day I can learn a new piece of fixed asset accounting--like how to set up a capital lease and draft the corresponding memo. This is realistic. Expecting to understand how ALL of fixed assets works in one day is a fantastic way to make myself crazy.
To make my job sustainable and enjoyable, I have to find realize that this is the nature of the beast. The flip side of the equation is pretty nasty. For example, my first swim coach once told me, "In the past the goals I set for myself were often time so unrealistic that I could rarely achieve them." It was because of his unreasonable goals for himself that he took a ten year hiatus from competitive swimming. A devastating personal event forced him to confront his unrealistic goals, the emotional damage that was caused by this habit, and return to the world of competitive swimming. Currently he is competing at the FINA World Championships as I am writing this.
Find Ways to Feel Good
Each night after work, I make a list of what I want to achieve the next day. Some times I will be able to finish that list, and will start another list--one which is usually more auspicious than the first. At the end of the day, I'll look at the second list and go, "Gosh, I didn't get anything done," and go home feeling a little bit upset.
The aforementioned behavior is a bad habit. The only way to have long-term, sustained success is to feel good about what you are doing each day. After completing my first list, I should have gotten a cup of coffee with a friend, enjoyed a few minutes outside, and then made an additional list called "Gravy," or "Superstar." If I consistently acknowledge and let myself feel the good work that is being produced, I will be more likely to produce more good work.
Embrace Falling Down
I have always struggled with inversions, or hand stands, in yoga. It's not the balance or the strength that I lack, but the willingness to fall down and potentially crash into the person practicing next to me. After a two month hiatus, I was able to get to a yoga class today. During inversion time the instructor said, "There is nothing wrong with falling down when you work on inversions. Falling down is part of the process." No truer words have ever been spoken.
In any field of study, the people who go on to do truly great things are the ones who are not afraid to "fall down." When they fall down, they pick themselves up and go, "Oh, I'll do it a little bit differently next time." Having that willingness to fall down in front of others and embarass yourself from time to time will ultimately lead to mastery of an area as well as the respect and trust of colleagues. Nobody likes going to a boss who is a "know-it-all" with questions or issues. Most people I know do really enjoy talking to colleagues who are willing to put together the pieces as a team member.
- Bill Bowerman, University of Oregon Track Coach and Co-Founder of Nike
For whatever reason, I think that the rules that govern the Universe don't apply to me. This seems to manifest itself most of all in the work place. In my mind I believe that I should be able to go about my job and deal with each and every challenge effortlessly. I continually expect perfection from myself and when I don't get this, I become upset. Upset is not the word. I become physically pained from errors that I make.
Last night, for example, I found out that I may have made an error at work right before I left the office. It almost ruined my evening. I was able to get a long, painful swim in and break up all the negativity rolling around in my head. After the workout ended, I was the last person in the locker room. For whatever reason, I said out loud, "You are never going to be perfect. Life is not about perfect. This is about progress."
This is big lesson for me. Three years ago I was the last person to walk out of the locker room at swim practice and said, "If I could just get cancer, then I could quit work and nobody would think the less of me for quitting." Make your own judgements, but I call this progress.
Anyway, I wanted to put some stuff down on the blog that I have learned over the past year, which help to mitigate the effects of the "over achiever" syndrome that plagues me.
Set Reasonable Goals
Ultimately, goals should be something that force one to grow, but also create solid skill sets. As the adage goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day." The funny thing about this quote is that the Romans didn't try to build their great city in one day. Roman architects and engineers worked slowly, and methodically. They didn't build cities in days, but rather would build part of a wall or 1/10th of a mile of a road a day.
With this in mind, try to find ways to work on pieces of long-term goals each day. One of my goals is to be a corporate controller at my current place of employement. In order to get to that position, I will need to have mastery over fixed asset accounting--my current position within the company. In one day I can learn a new piece of fixed asset accounting--like how to set up a capital lease and draft the corresponding memo. This is realistic. Expecting to understand how ALL of fixed assets works in one day is a fantastic way to make myself crazy.
To make my job sustainable and enjoyable, I have to find realize that this is the nature of the beast. The flip side of the equation is pretty nasty. For example, my first swim coach once told me, "In the past the goals I set for myself were often time so unrealistic that I could rarely achieve them." It was because of his unreasonable goals for himself that he took a ten year hiatus from competitive swimming. A devastating personal event forced him to confront his unrealistic goals, the emotional damage that was caused by this habit, and return to the world of competitive swimming. Currently he is competing at the FINA World Championships as I am writing this.
Find Ways to Feel Good
Each night after work, I make a list of what I want to achieve the next day. Some times I will be able to finish that list, and will start another list--one which is usually more auspicious than the first. At the end of the day, I'll look at the second list and go, "Gosh, I didn't get anything done," and go home feeling a little bit upset.
The aforementioned behavior is a bad habit. The only way to have long-term, sustained success is to feel good about what you are doing each day. After completing my first list, I should have gotten a cup of coffee with a friend, enjoyed a few minutes outside, and then made an additional list called "Gravy," or "Superstar." If I consistently acknowledge and let myself feel the good work that is being produced, I will be more likely to produce more good work.
Embrace Falling Down
I have always struggled with inversions, or hand stands, in yoga. It's not the balance or the strength that I lack, but the willingness to fall down and potentially crash into the person practicing next to me. After a two month hiatus, I was able to get to a yoga class today. During inversion time the instructor said, "There is nothing wrong with falling down when you work on inversions. Falling down is part of the process." No truer words have ever been spoken.
In any field of study, the people who go on to do truly great things are the ones who are not afraid to "fall down." When they fall down, they pick themselves up and go, "Oh, I'll do it a little bit differently next time." Having that willingness to fall down in front of others and embarass yourself from time to time will ultimately lead to mastery of an area as well as the respect and trust of colleagues. Nobody likes going to a boss who is a "know-it-all" with questions or issues. Most people I know do really enjoy talking to colleagues who are willing to put together the pieces as a team member.
posted by Zen_Accountant at 8:25 PM
1 Comments:
Your posts are really very wonderful, especially the last 2. I need the guidance they are offering in my quest to improve my quality of life since unreasonable goals have been a part of my life for many years. Just stressful! Also, my daughter is a perfectionist (she'S 14) since day one. She needs some of these guidelines introduced to her and you made it tidy for me.
Thanks.
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