Perfectionism, Fear of Failure, Procrastination

[ollimatrix]

So after I discovered something about myself I was just wondering if other has similar experiences or even found a good way to overcome this problem.

I am currently procrastinating by writing this thread. There are other ways for me to procrastinate, too, for example rewriting the code for my website, research and development, and so on. What I should be doing is to launch my website right now. Just make it public in BETA, let it fail, readjust and go from there. But I am afraid...

I am afraid of failure, because I'm a perfectionist. Because I'm a perfectionist I'm afraid of failure.

There is hardly any good enough for the things I do (except things I dont fully care about). I do this because I'm a perfectionist, and because I'm afraid of the consequences of not actually having done something good enough... Good enough is not perfect. Not perfect means possibly not good enough. Not good enough means failure... And I'm afraid of the consequences of failure.

And when it comes to my Fastlane business (a website) I want things especially perfect. And I'm especially afraid of failure. I dont want users to experience errors or glitches on the site - I'm afraid that errors or glitches could be used to exploit my site. I am afraid that users may get in trouble by using my site and sue me, and due to my lack of perfect Terms and Conditions they may win. I am afraid that my "good enough for release" version may be seen by someone who steals the idea, and scales it faster than I can... Because I didnt release a perfect, final version, but only one that was good enough for getting it out there...

Can you see my dilemma?

Any advice or suggestions?

 

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[AndrewNC]

Any advice or suggestions?

Suggestions - Stop being a perfectionist and launch it and see what happens.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

because I'm a perfectionist.

I almost didn't release TMF because I wasn't happy with the later chapters. I had much much more to say and couldn't because it was already too long. However, because I publicly declared I was writing this, and people were expecting it (and I talked about it for years), I just said "F*ck it" and released it, in an unperfect state.

If you can find a first print copy, the thing has about 15 typos through out the book. Not perfect. And in my opinion, it wasn't perfect because it lacked everything I wanted to say.

And as more people read it, the more I discovered that my perfectionism was only a mentally constructed obstacle I put there myself.

The same thing applies for my audiobook -- I was not happy with the end product: It was not perfect, the vocal quality varied, and the audiotracks sometimes weren't clean enough. Despite these shortcomings perceived by my perfectionist self, I released it with some antipathy. To date, I have NOT received one complaint about any of the aforementioned "issues."

In the end, much of the things tied to perfectionism are our own manifestations of our fear.

What if people complain?
What if people hate it?
What if people experience errors?

Bottomline is just do it ...

Then listen to the echos the market give you.

Learn.

Then adjust.

Then react.

Then repeat.

In the end, you'll end up with something perfect in the mind of your customer.

 

[Thriftypreneur]

Not all waiting is procrastination.

There's a BIG difference between releasing an unfinished product/website and releasing a product/website that is finished but can use some further work.

Knowing the differencing can help you with your launches.

If you're building a website and you don't have immediate traffic/customers/etc that will be hitting it the second you launch, putting it up now shouldn't scare you because you won't have any traffic anyway.

 

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[DennisD]

My site teaches people how to use video. I have the expertise to teach this as I've done it for nearly a decade.

My videos? They're done using a $10 mic with a horrible range and all my videos are basically motion graphics and not real videos. The 'vision' for the end scope isn't within my grasp.. but if I don't put something out there I lose.

Yes people will look back at this old stuff and see how bad it is. But I can't get to where I'm going without publishing it in the first place.

There's just a breaking point to this perfectionism thing. The sooner you reach it the more doors open.

 

[zoborg]

You might want to read "The Lean Startup"- I wish I read it before I launched my previous startup...in essence it doesn't matter if your product is perfect as a) You will have less customers looking at it than you think and b) customers will interact/expect things very differently than what you think.

So get your minimum viable product out, ask for feedback from customers, iterate fast based in feedback.

 

[smarty]

If you knew you would DIE tomorrow, would you be gone with REGRETS?
If yes, then fu##ing release it. At least make it available for certain people/IP-s.
How can you expect to make something perfect before even knowing if someone may use it at all?
Do you realize you're wasting your lifetime by keeping it on your hard drive and hiding
from your own shadow of fear?
The only and best way to learn and grow, is to experience things. Don't live in your head.
As for your fear of getting sued, just put a simple disclaimer that it is a beta version and
in experimental/testing phase.

Let go of the "perfectionist" rules, it's an illusion you hold.
Here is how Google started:


Here is how Facebook started:


This may sound harsh but hopefully may wake you up: You're not a perfectionist but more of a coward. Admit it.
You can't win without risking. That's the fastlane reality.

 

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[Rawr]

Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won’t have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren’t even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they’re doing it

The War of Art

 

[ollimatrix]

This may sound harsh but hopefully may wake you up: You're not a perfectionist but more of a coward. Admit it.
You can't win without risking. That's the fastlane reality.

YES!!

I DID IT!!

I sent an email with the BETA link to the 20 people who have signed up with their email address on the pre-release page

I'm all sweaty and almost pooped my pants :-X


Thanks everybody!



When I was little (like 3 - 5 yrs old) there was a cocoa drink which had a commercial on TV. The company had these guys Obelix - Asterix encyclopedia - The characters - The official Website as their mascotts for this particular drink. And in the cartoons they had a "magic drink" which gave them superpowers and enabled their village to stay independent and not occupied by the roman empire. They drank this magic drink and were super strong, punching all the Romans, throwing them around and stuff.

So when my mom bought a box of the cocoa drink I was afraid to drink it because I didnt want to throw anyone out of the window by accident. took me a loooot of courage to finally drink it... Nothing happened. Didn't taste all that awesome... :-X

THAT'S HOW I FEEL RIGHT NOW (except I havent gotten a real taste of the magic drink yet)...

Thanks again everyone.

Gonna go cut the grass, let some adrenaline out.

 

[smarty]

YES!!

I DID IT!!

AWESOME!
Now you can see how people respond, ask them
for suggestions and make changes along the way.

Most of our fears are rooted somewhere from childhood
or early adult years and you as a warrior must overcome them
one by one to become who you really are.

Now buy yourself a beer from me

 

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[Rafal]

The War of Art

and Do The Work - both by Steven Pressfield

those books are about that and ways to overcome it

 

[liquidglass]

Glad to see you sent out invites to people. I can relate (or at least used to) and the guys here are giving great advice so listen to them.

I was very much a perfectionist when I was younger which is great for certain things and terrible for others. It allows you to stay consistent on schedules and routines but it's horrible for getting anything real accomplished.

Just to give you perspective like other people have. Think about the biggest company you know. Auto, software, hardware, web, etc. Has any company EVER stuck with the one product or service exactly as it started? Hell no is the short answer.

Apple, Microsoft, etc release software updates and new hardware because what they did before wasn't perfect it was just the best they came up with at the time. There is no perfect car, so new models are released with new features and old changes. Nothing is ever perfect and will never be perfect no matter how much you update or change it before or after it just needs to be the best you've got at the time.

To comment on the google post above I remember reading that because the two founders didn't know the proper coding that the search button wasn't click able when it was first put online, you just had to hit enter.

Remember in whatever field you're pursuing you are the expert to the customers/clients. It doesn't have to be perfect to you because it won't matter to them. If you're not the expert then become an expert by studying others on how you can improve it.

I've started up separate branches (different focuses on the same main service) of my business sometimes after countless hours of studying the market and careful structure and I've opened other branches on a whim (literally within weeks) had employees hired and working while I was still figuring out the perfect formula. I've also had to shut branches down that were heavily researched and those done on a whim. I've also had both types be very successful. But if I hadn't started, it wouldn't have happened.

Good luck!

PS: MJ....there's a typo on page who gives a F*ck.

 

[fasteddienc]

I found this to be a good read as if it were written about me....

Amazon.com: Too Perfect: When Being in Control Gets Out of Control (9780449908006): Jeannette Dewyze, Allan Mallinger: Books

 

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[GuestUser8117]

Mj,I did love your audiobook. Especially the introduction with bigdaddyhoo and the part about the sidewalker syndrome/mindposts. It's just very funny and thought provoking at the same time.