Is Perfectionism Holding You Back?

I have a problem with perfectionism, or, as some of my friends are happy to say, I’m a bit of a control freak. Not in the sense where I want to control other people, nor even where it’s stopping me from releasing clients’ work. However sometimes a desire to make things perfect stops me doing things for myself. Like posting on this blog, for example. I love this blog, but I haven’t had the time to post those detailed posts I used to do. I’ve been writing for clients and dealing with the myriad things that can crop up in your personal life and that’s really cut into my time.

And then there’s the perfectionism thing. Since I wanted to make sure my posts were valuable, I’ve held back until I actually had time to write something that I valued. But I think perhaps I was being too hard on myself.

When I look back through the posts on this blog, there are some short, pithy posts that are every bit as popular with readers as the longer, more studied ones. There’s room for both. And since Dan is doing a great job of writing more in-depth posts, as Dana has also done, I’ve given myself permission to be brief , on occasion. To write concisely when the muse moves me, instead of waiting to make it perfect and never getting it written at all. To link more regularly to content I’ve found interesting instead of doing a mammoth roundup once a year. To get personal, from time to time — and to rediscover — and share — my love of the writing life. Hope that’s OK with you.