A perfectionist is someone who is displeased with anything below their own – sometimes arbitrary – extremely high standards. While the pursuit of excellence is a fine quality, but an obsession with the unobtainable ideal will actually do more harm than good.

French writer and philosopher François-Marie Arouet (a.k.a. Voltaire) once said “Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien” which means “The perfect is the enemy of the good” or “The best is the enemy of the good.” In essence, good is sometimes good enough. If pursuing perfection keeps you from considering perfectly good options, keeps you from every being satisfied with your work, or keeps you from effectively building on your mistakes, “the perfect” is actually what’s keeping you from success.

So how do you keep “the perfect” from becoming your enemy?

• Realize that in many cases, perfection is impossible. The crime rate will never reach zero, any car will eventually break down, and all books have room for improvement. However, this shouldn’t keep us from fighting crime, building better cars, and writing novels.
• If you need practice being not perfect, try something new with the mindset going in that you’re going to make mistakes and you don’t care about the results. Accept the fact that there are some things you’re simply not good at.
• Learn how to use constructive criticism. It may be frustrating or depressing having other people remind you what you did wrong (as if you didn’t already know) but their input should be taken as positive encouragement.
• Take some time to evaluate yourself. Try to figure out what influences or ideas are pushing you toward the negative effects of perfectionism.
• Use your perfectionist tendencies to your advantage. Striving toward being the best and continually improvement isn’t a bad thing in and of itself; it’s only bad when it inhibits your progress. Focus on the benefits and shun the negative.

You probably started 2011 with a nice crisp sheet of paper outlining all your goals for the coming year. New Year’s resolutions encapsulate everything that is exciting about January 1 – the chance to start over, to be better, to be more productive and (of course) to meet new goals.

But even for the most successful business owners, those well-intended resolutions often fizzle by the time February rolls around. Especially if you get sick or suffer an injury, your goals might be difficult (or impossible) to pick up again. Here are a few ways to stick with your goals even when you have a strike or two against you.

1. Reevaluate. In all the excitement of setting New Year’s resolutions, you might have set your sights a little too high. Goals need to be realistic and attainable even when things don’t go according to plan. If you set a goal to expand your retail company to four locations by June, an unexpected surgery in March can set you weeks behind and make meeting your deadline impossible. When this happens, try reworking your goal. Decide to focus on opening one location or give yourself more time. This will help you keep your motivation and keep your goals in sight.
2. Put your goals out in the open. Many goals fade away simply because you don’t remember what they are. Write your goals on index cards and put them in prominent places, like your bathroom mirror or on the refrigerator door. As you recover from your injury or sickness, your goals will remain in sight – literally. You might not be able to work toward your goals every day, but keeping them in mind can help you accomplish them after you recover.
3. Enlist help. If you have business partners or employees, share your business goals with them. Ask for their help as you work to make your vision a reality. If you share the load with others, they can help you accomplish your goals even when you are out of commission.

Too often, we associate getting an education with attending a formal school or academy. While many great educational experiences occur in places like this, they are hardly exclusive domain. Well-educated individuals know that there are always daily opportunities to learn. Unlike a rigid classroom experience, where assignments are mandated, these real world lessons are left up to our own initiative. If we don’t choose to seek them, they won’t be forced upon us. 

Many of the top entrepreneurs in the world lack a college degree. Rather, they sought opportunities to learn from established leaders in the business world. By working with mentors, they were able to learn the strategies of success. Other business leaders attended institutions of higher learning, but augmented their classroom studies with real world application. In this way, they learn how to utilize their knowledge in the most efficient way. They also see the occasional errors of business theory and rectify them with hands on immediacy. 

Don’t let a misguided definition of education prevent you from learning. You don’t have to be officially enrolled at a school to learn. You don’t have to be reading from a textbook to study. Rather, seek out opportunities to learn from those around you. Study the success of others. Ask for their advice. The most successful entrepreneurs in the world got where they are because they asked the right people the right questions.

“The remarkable thing we have is a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.” ~Charles Swindoll

There are certain things that are simply out of our control. We continually have outside forces acting upon us – some propelling us toward success and others discouraging us toward failure. But one thing we will always have control over is our attitude. And by having a positive attitude, we are more likely to achieve the success we’re striving for.

So here are some ways to encourage a positive attitude:

• Accept the fact that negativity exists – not only in others but in yourself. Pretending it doesn’t exists will not contribute to your success. Instead, acknowledge there is negativity in the world and in you, take the time to understand where it’s coming from, and do what you can to overcome it.
• Don’t point fingers. This doesn’t mean you have to take responsibility for everything; not everything is your fault, obviously. But especially in the workplace, building a culture of blame and finger pointing doesn’t do anybody any good. If a mistake is made, address it and fix it. Don’t waste time gathering a lynch mob to find the culprit.
• Look toward other, positive influences. Whether it be a person or a book or a helpful website, having positive influences in your life will help you maintain that positive attitude. Surround yourself with people and ideas that will help you focus on optimism and success. By doing so, you’ll be able to develop a pattern of positivity and, hopefully, be a positive influence on others as well.

Most adults have an infinite amount of errands to be done. If we put off the things we want to do until we get everything done, the things that are important to us will never happen. This statement refers to the activities that help us unwind and recharge our batteries, like running, reading, quilting, swimming, napping, playing tennis or going for evening walks. 

We often feel so beholden to our schedules that we are willing to trudge through a never ending amount of tedious tasks without ever doing what we enjoy. This sad routine prevents us from gleaning enjoyment from our days and actually decreases productivity. It may sound counterintuitive to think that focusing on a long list of tasks would make us less productive, but it’s true. With nothing special to anticipate and work toward, we lose our ability to work efficiently. For example, if you schedule a two-hour block of time each day for yoga, you will most likely work harder and smarter the rest of the day to accomplish your remaining tasks in the abridged amount of time. 

Don’t feel guilty about taking the time to do what you love. As long as you maintain a balance in your life, you are making the right decision. Your favorite activities keep you healthy, happy and productive. So as you plan your schedule, treat your time equally. Don’t forsake the things you love just because they don’t fit on a typical “To Do” list.

May this New Year bring you many opportunities to explore the joys of life. And may your resolutions for the days ahead stay firm, turning your efforts into achievements and your dreams into reality.

You should set goals, but not every goal is a good goal. And as much as you’d like goal setting to be simplified into a nice acronym or three easy steps, the fact of the matter is that goals are a little more complicated than that. Goals are more than arbitrary objectives to strive for; they need to address the big picture.

So, you shouldn’t set goals:

• Which Are Out Of Your Control Don’t set goals which are dependent on the actions of others. If your goal is to bring in five more clients, your achievement of that goal requires those five clients to agree to become your clients, which may not happen. Instead, focus on what actions you can take – what is within your control – which could lead to more clients.
• Which Act As False Motivator Sometimes we set goals just for the sake of having goals. We’ve been taught it’s a good thing to do so we do it. The goal in and of itself shouldn’t be the motivation; and don’t allow any additional reward associated with achieving the goal to take over. It’s about improvement, not prizes.
• Which Don’t Lead To Self-Improvement Goals that only address temporary rewards or short-term results don’t need to be set. They may include some short-term issues along the way, but they should be part of a bigger goal – one that focuses on improvement and progress; not just achievement.
• Which Are Set By Others There are few things worse than others telling you what you should be striving for and achieving. It’s difficult to be motivated or positively affected by goals other people set for you. So take those kinds of initiatives and make them your own; personalize them and improve upon them. Use those suggestions from others and a jumping-off point for your own ideas and desires.

According to some people, work’s dirty secret is that it requires effort. They view the exertion required by work as a terrible deterrent and would prefer to avoid any activity that requires concerted brain power and might result in sweat. Yet the majority of these same people want success. In fact, many of them actually expect it. They feel a sense of entitlement and want results delivered to them.

The idea that we will be successful merely because we are “due” is ridiculous. There is no timeframe for unearned success. It doesn’t come by default merely because it hasn’t been enjoyed in the past. You can be unsuccessful in your 50s just as easily as you were in your 20s, because there’s nothing inevitable about it. If anything, a protracted lack of success makes future success less likely. We are more adept at what we are comfortable with, so if we’ve spent years in a malaise, that’s what comes naturally. More effort will likely be required in order to reap rewards. 

By sincerely seeking success, opposed to agitatedly waiting for it, we put ourselves in the perfect position for results. We are actively engaged in the process and are learning the skills that will help us extend our success. And that’s the problem with fluky success that might strike a lucky and lazy individual. While this does happen once in a great while, the individual has little hope of making it last. They will lack the contextual skills necessary to develop the success and extend it into the future. Their ineptitude ensures that it will go down as a true “one-hit wonder.”

Not only is earned success more likely to last, it’s also more satisfying. There is a cause and effect relationship between work and accomplishment, making the process a familiar one to those who know what it takes and are willing to commit to their dreams. The rewards of focused work are immense and they don’t diminish with time.

“A man’s errors are his portals of discovery.”

–James Joyce 

Mistakes are inevitable in life, but learning from them is not. We must dedicate ourselves to improvement if we wish to make the most of these opportunities for growth. Rather than quickly sweeping a mistake under the rug, we should take the time to understanding what was done wrong and how it could be done better in the future. 

Many of history’s greatest figures have spoken on this subject. Albert Einstein, the legendary scientist, suggested that anyone who doesn’t make mistakes isn’t trying anything new. Truly, mistakes are a sign of growth and development. They serve as mile markers as we leave our comfort zone and push into new territory. 

By accepting mistakes as a necessary byproduct of life, we can use them constructively. Each error should be examined and used as a “portal of discovery.” This thoughtful approach to improvement will ensure a life full of accomplishment and worth.

The holidays are a busy time for everyone. Parties, gatherings, meals, activities, family, friends, and others are each demanding your time. Unfortunately, this can easily lead to your home-based or small business being neglected. Not just because there aren’t enough hours in the day, but also because it’s physically impossible to get any work done with a belly full of turkey.

But you can’t let your business fall behind these next few months. You need to find the motivation and focus your energy, perhaps even more than usual. You need to stay committed to your business. Don’t allow yourself to put off what needs to be done today. Don’t deviate from the schedule you’ve set for yourself. Don’t think that it won’t make a difference.

This doesn’t mean you should skip the family gathering (although, if you’re looking for an excuse to avoid that awkwardness that can be associated with those types of events you’re welcome to say you have to work) and it doesn’t mean you can’t give yourself a little break. What it does mean is you have to plan and schedule what you can in advance.

Write a handful of blog posts now and schedule them to be posted throughout the holiday. Figure out which days you simply won’t have any time to work and schedule some extra time on the day or two you may have free. What you don’t want to be is surprised and unsure about what to do.

Look at a calendar, plan the next few months, and do what you can now to get ahead. That way you won’t be trying to catch up for all the lost time come January (when you’ll be busy trying to keep up all those resolutions). As Benjamin Franklin said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”