Fly on the E-Commerce Cyberwall

The Difference Between Perfectionism and the Pursuit of Excellence
I, along with many other business owners, frequently suffer from perfectionism. I hesitate to tackle important projects because I can't guarantee up front that I will carry them off perfectly.

I keep telling myself the old encouragement, "It's more important to get it going than it is to get it perfect," to remind myself that I can always tweak and improve something once it's created, even if it isn't perfect right out of the gate.

As a perfectionist, I tell myself that I'm seeking excellence. The other day, though, someone shared with me the differences he saw between excellence and perfectionism.

They really are complete opposites. What he said really struck a chord with me and inspired me to identify some more differences between perfectionism and the pursuit of excellence:

• PERFECTIONISM is the fear of being wrong.
  THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE is the willingness to be wrong and to learn from it.
  
  
• PERFECTIONISM is seeing any effort that doesn't turn out exactly as planned as failure.
  THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE is seeing any effort that doesn't turn out exactly as planned as a valuable opportunity to refine the plan and make it better.
  
  
• PERFECTIONISM is fear that others might think you don't measure up.
  THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE is a desire to be the best you can be.
  
  
• PERFECTIONISM is staying stuck in anger and frustration.
  THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE is growing beyond where you ever expected to grow.
  
  
• PERFECTIONISM is confining.
  THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE is freeing.
  
  
• PERFECTIONISM is conformity to presuppositions.
  THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE is exploring new possibilities.
  
  
• PERFECTIONISM is prejudging and rejecting any new possibilities.
  THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE is embracing them as they prove themselves worthwhile.
  
  
• PERFECTIONISM is seeking to win admiration without giving anything of value in return.
  THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE is giving something better of yourself to others.
  
  
• PERFECTIONISM is self-doubt.
  THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE is confidence.
  
  
• PERFECTIONISM is closing yourself off.
  THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE is opening yourself up.
  
  
• PERFECTIONISM is remaining right where you've always been.
  THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE is a journey of discovery.
  
  
• PERFECTIONISM is a determination to defend an unproductive status quo.
  THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE is a surrender to a greater good.
  
  
• PERFECTIONISM is fear.
  THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE is trust.
  
  
• PERFECTIONISM is selfishness.
  THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE is selflessness.
  
  
• PERFECTIONISM is a desperate and futile attempt to avoid rejection that you already expect as an absolute certainty.
  THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE is the openness to explore and the expectation that that exploration will ultimately lead to something better
  
  
• PERFECTIONISM is the fear that something unpleasant will come from your efforts.
  THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE is an excitement over the improvements that you will help discover.
  
  
• PERFECTIONISM is the expectation that your results will improve by continuing to do things in ways that have always failed in the past.
  THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE is a willingness always to find better, more effective ways.
  
  
• PERFECTIONISM is a desire to stay exactly as you are and hope that doing so will make the world around you more compliant to your desires.
  
  
  THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE is a sincere desire to become all that God has made you capable of being as you make things better for others.
  

Hope this helps.
Jeff

Labels: mindset, perfectionism

The Key to Navigating to Your Goals
Here's a favorite quote from Leonardo Da Vinci:

"Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind"

No one would ever accuse Leonardo Da Vinci of waffling. He produced a tremendous body of work in a wide variety of disciplines across seemingly contradictory areas of science and art.

How did he do it? He tells us here.

Just as ancient mariners would navigate by setting their eye on the North Star and using that unchanging landmark in the sky to guide them to their goal, he would fix his gaze unflinchingly on a steady, unwavering point and not let anything move him from that course.

We could all learn a lesson from that about setting an unshakable vision of the destination we want to attain.

Too often, we content ourselves with traveling wherever the waves take us instead of setting and following a course to the destination of our choosing. Rather than choosing the destination where we want to land, we set out figuring, "Well, wherever I end up is likely to be better than where I am right now."

We're capable, though, of more than that. We're capable of setting a destination that fits who we are better than any random movement of the waves ever could.

It takes determination and it takes perseverance. But it's possible.

That's why Da Vinci could say what he said. That's why Da Vinci was able to accomplish all he accomplished.
Jeff

Labels: inspirational quotes

Does This Mean I've Crossed Over to the Dark Side?
I get a lot of biz op junk mail. I don't know whether me being involved with Internet marketing gets me more than most people or not.

I know, though, that I get a lot of invitations to "free" seminars that are merely veiled pitches for $2,500 business-in-a-box programs that sell people a site-building tool that they'll never use because it's too complicated for anyone but the developer to understand.

The other biz-op scam I receive a lot sent me another (very elegant looking) pitch today. It's the old "have a business of your own by servicing vending machines!" scam. There must be a lot of money in getting people to sign up to service vending machines, because the mail I get for this biz-op is staggering.

It ticks me off every time I get one of these biz-op mailings because I know that people, who desperately would like to experience the freedom of making a living off of their own business, will take the scammers up on these "opportunities" and get burned.

I didn't throw that piece of mail out today like I usually do, though. A delicious idea crossed my mind.

I thought, why not save up all this deceitful biz-op junk mail for a month or so and then do a short video showing the accumulated pile. I could then decry the predatory biz-op schemes out there and contrast them to the low-cost legitimate business training that I provide on Employee-to-Entrepreneur Blueprint?

The idea of using a pile of scam mail to show the worthless scams that prospective business owners fall victim to seemed too delicious to pass up. "Let 'em send me junk mail," I thought. "I'll just use it to make my point about how much worthless junk is out there."

You know what this means, though, don't you? I am now officially SAVING junk mail. I've already saved a few sales letters that were exceptionally well written so I could get ideas from them when I write sales letters. But now I'm even saving junk mail scams!

My mentors always told me that the day would come when I would stop looking at ads as an irritation and start seeing them as opportunities to learn lessons -- good or bad -- from other marketers. I guess that day has now officially come.

I don't know if that means I've crossed over to the dark side, though. That would be if I started scamming, or at least focused on methods that others would find intrusive.

I look at it as becoming a better marketer: seeing opportunities where others see trash, learning to avoid intrusive techniques and make my messages more focused on customer needs.

I don't think I've crossed over to the dark side. I'm just seeing a bigger picture in my chosen field.
Jeff

Labels: entrepreneurship, marketing