Hello, everyone!
In my last post, I explained the downfalls of perfectionism in sales. In this post, I am going to help explain how to battle a perfectionist mindset.
The first step to battling perfectionism is to set more realistic goals and expectations for yourself. Rather than expecting to get everything done perfectly and in time, prioritize what you have to get done and how it needs to be done. For example, if you are going on a sales call, rather than expecting everything to go perfect and according to plan, expect the opposite. Come up with three points in your mind that you need to get across, and improvise the rest.
The second step to battling perfectionism is to challenge the “inner critic” and dispute negative thoughts. After the sales call, it is easy to overthink the other person’s responses and to criticize your “mistakes,” but ultimately, you probably did a lot better than you thought and you cannot change what you have done. As Christians, we have to put our anxieties in God’s hands, rather than succumbing to despair.
The third step to battling perfectionism is trusting that everything will work out in the way that it is supposed to, and all you can do is your best (which is not perfect, because you are human). Every sales call is not supposed to go perfectly, and not everyone is your customer. Failure is inevitable and it is a GOOD thing because it leads you to find the right customer and helps you learn from your mistakes.
BoweryJE22
As a perfectionist, this is a constant challenge for me. It’s particularly difficult after experiencing some failure; was it something unavoidable, or was it something I could have anticipated had I tried just a little harder?
I think it is super important how you mentioned being fluid is one of the best ways to fight off the dangers of perfectionism. It is good to realize that no matter how hard you try, you never can predict every aspect of a situation. Being quick on your feet and adapting to difficulties with a positive mindset is a great way to fight off feelings of defeat.