“Perfectionism leads to procrastination leads to paralysis. Take
one small step toward that thing you’re not doing today.”

–Mark Strong

If you’ve been following Mark Strong Coaching on
Facebook, you may have seen the quote above on our Wall. I’d like to devote
this week’s blog to expanding on this important topic.

Is there something you’ve been putting off doing? Have you
thought about what’s keeping you from it? Often when we resist starting and
completing tasks, the culprit behind our inertia is perfectionism.

Maybe you don’t think of yourself as a perfectionist. But
perfectionism wears many masks. It casts a wider net than the stereotype you
may have of the detail-oriented person who has to have everything “just so.” You
may have perfectionistic tendencies, but not realize that those are behind your
procrastination.

Are you a
perfectionist? Whether you consider yourself to be detail-oriented or not,
do you sometimes find it difficult, or even painful, to start certain kinds of
projects? Will you do almost anything else to avoid digging into that one
thing? If so, think about the big picture of the project:

Is there someone on the receiving end of the project who you
are worried about disappointing? Are you anxious that you can’t deliver on the
outcome, because you think the end product won’t be as good as it needs to be? If
so, you may feel nervous about taking the first step that you need to take, for
fear of doing it wrong.

This is perfectionism at work. Perfectionism is what leads
to procrastination, and in worst-case scenarios, paralysis. The goal is to nip
this negative trio of “P’s” in the bud. If you can stop the first “P,” you’ll
avoid the chain reaction that follows it.

Here’s what I coach
my clients to do:

Combat the three “P’s” of perfectionism, procrastination,
and paralysis with the three “S’s”: Start
with Small Steps. Here’s how:

•    Do one
  thing. The next time you feel yourself resisting something important, take
  one action, no matter how small, toward doing it. By starting with small steps,
  you will avoid the overwhelm that can come from thinking about the project in
  total. Small steps get your feet wet; once you wade in, you may find it is
  easier than you thought to just dive in and start swimming.
• Count it
  all. Count everything you do toward your goal, not just the major steps. If
  you have a report to write, your first step might be sitting down at the
  computer. This may sound obvious, but you can’t start the report until you’re
  physically in front of your computer. Procrastination will keep you from making
  this simple move, finding every excuse possible to avoid it. Soon you will
  become paralyzed with dread about the project, and you will have even less time
  to do it, because you have put it off too long.
• Keep
  going. Once you have conquered the first baby step, push yourself to the
  next. In our example above, your next small step might be creating a file for
  your new report, and giving it a title. Now it has become a real project! Don’t
  stop—keep the momentum going. Are there calls you need to make, or research you
  need to do, before you can dig into your report? Do it now—don’t think about
  the end result of the report or who will be reading it. If you just do the next
  small step in front of you, soon you will get into the flow of the project, and
  momentum will trump the 3 “P’s.”