Why It’s Time to Replace Perfection with Excellence.
For years, perfectionism has been worn like a badge of honour — a symbol of high standards, discipline, and uncompromising commitment. But beneath its shiny, polished surface lies something far more draining and darker: fear.
As Ann Wilson Schaef once sharply wrote, “Perfectionism is self-abuse of the highest order.”
Perfection isn’t truly about doing your best; it’s about the crushing fear that your best isn’t enough. It masquerades as motivation but is really paralysis dressed up as productivity. Behind the endless tweaking, revising, and delaying lies a single, anxious question:
“What if my best still isn’t good enough?”
That isn’t ambition — that’s self-doubt on overdrive. And it keeps you stuck, utterly exhausted, and continually playing small.
So, as we approach a new year, what if, instead of chasing perfection — a brittle, elusive illusion that doesn’t exist — you replaced it with something real, empowering, and truly sustainable?
I once asked a client who proudly called herself a perfectionist, “If this were perfect, how would you know?” She looked at me blankly — and couldn’t answer.
That moment says it all. Perfection cannot be defined, only endlessly pursued. And the pursuit is a treadmill that never stops.
Let’s talk about replacing that debilitating chase with something far healthier: progress, excellence, and ultimately, wholeness. This is your gentle, yet powerful, new way to navigate the year ahead.
Replace Perfection with Progress.
Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, reminds us that progress — not perfection — is the only sustainable foundation on which creativity and growth are actually built.
When you start something new, whether it’s a business, a hobby, or a new skill, you won’t be great right away. You are supposed to be a beginner. Progress requires humility, patience, and courage — the willingness to be delightfully bad before you can ever get genuinely good.
Progress looks like celebrating small wins:
Finishing a messy draft instead of endlessly polishing the first paragraph.
Trying again (imperfectly) instead of quitting entirely.
Being just a little bit better and kinder to yourself than you were a week ago.
When you focus on the daily progress, you generate essential momentum. And momentum, in turn, is the engine that builds sustainable confidence.
If you wait for perfect timing or flawless outcomes, you’ll wait forever. Perfection is a moving target — like chasing a rainbow that shifts just as you get close. Progress, on the other hand, keeps you moving forward — imperfectly, yes, but powerfully and honestly.
Replace Perfection with Excellence.
If perfection isn’t the goal, what standard should we aim for?
Excellence.
The brilliant Tom Peters said it best:
“Excellence is the next five minutes — or it’s nothing at all.”
Excellence isn’t a finish line; it’s a mindset. It’s the intentional energy you bring to your next conversation, how you respectfully treat your next client, and the focus you give to writing your next important email.
It's about presence, not pressure.
When you pursue excellence, you welcome feedback as fuel for growth, not proof of failure. You learn to see mistakes as data, not disasters. You stop taking criticism personally because you've already decided that your inherent worth isn’t up for debate.
Want to know where to start? Try a quick "Mistake Audit" after something goes sideways:
What did I learn that I didn't know before?
What would I choose to do differently next time?
What fixed assumption can I let go of?
This isn’t self-punishment — it’s high-level self-leadership.
But here’s the essential truth: you cannot sustain excellence if you are running on empty. Two of the biggest, most common barriers to true excellence are overcommitment and chronic exhaustion.
Audit your calendar and your energy as a priority for the new year:
How much of my time goes to what truly aligns with my core values?
What drains me emotionally and physically, and yet I keep mindlessly saying yes to it?
Excellence doesn’t come from doing everything. It comes from doing the right things — well.
And when that excellence is grounded in balance and clear intention, it naturally expands into something deeper: wholeness.
Replace Perfection with Wholeness.
Here is the compassionate truth we often forget: You don’t need fixing.
When you label yourself a “perfectionist,” you are subtly declaring that something’s fundamentally missing — that you need to become enough instead of recognising that you already are.
But you are not broken. You are beautifully both a work in progress and a complete, worthy human being, right here, right now.
Wholeness isn’t about becoming flawless. It’s about becoming fully, honestly human. It’s the unconditional practice of standing by your own side.
When you walk into a room anchored in the quiet knowing that you are already enough, everything changes. You stop performing for external approval and start creating from authentic selfhood. External validation becomes a lovely bonus gift, not your necessary fuel.
Wholeness says:
“I am imperfect and still worthy of love and respect.”
“I can improve and evolve without needing to prove my value.”
That is true freedom.
So, how do you quiet the perfectionist voice that keeps you small? Shift your focus — from proving to contributing.
When you stop obsessing over how you are being perceived and instead focus on the tangible value and service you bring, self-consciousness gives way to courage. It's when you realise you know more on this particular topic than most people, and just because it may feel effortless for you, it doesn't mean it is any less significant.
Many of my clients admit they “self-erase” in meetings — afraid to speak up, to offer an original idea, to risk not sounding perfectly eloquent or even worse incompetent. Their silence isn’t humility; it’s fear disguised as professionalism.
But contribution changes everything. Before you speak, try this simple, powerful reframe:
“I’m not here to be perfect. I’m here to be of value.”
When the message is clear, you don’t have to be flawless. Wholeness is what happens when you fully release the stressful chase for perfection and come home to yourself — grounded, present, and wholly enough.
Final Thoughts: A Kinder New Year.
Perfection isn’t a standard — it’s a trap. A clever form of self-sabotage disguised as self-improvement.
So the next time your inner critic whispers, “It’s not good enough,” interrupt it with two powerful words: What if?
What if your imperfect idea is exactly what someone needs to hear?
What if your "not-perfect" effort is exponentially better than inaction?
What if you are already, beautifully, enough?
As Marianne Williamson reminds us: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.”
When you deliberately let go of the demand for perfection, you make generous room for excellence. When you choose to embrace wholeness, you make powerful room for joy, ease, and real, sustained progress.
Here’s to progress, excellence, and being powerfully — imperfectly — you in the new year.
Warm wishes,
Lori