Perfectionism is something that’s almost certainly holding you back.

There’s a quote in the bible (Ecclesiastes 11:4 if you’d like to check) that says:

“If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.”

That’s still true, over 2,000 years later.

Things are never perfect – in my view, that’s one of the plus points of today’s throwaway society. Sure there are negatives as well but that doesn’t matter.

If someone is only ever going to watch your latest video once then – even if there are lots of people watching it once each- then the occasional glitch doesn’t matter.

So long as the sound quality is acceptable and you’re not slurring your words or speaking in an accent that few people understand, that’s OK.

Some regional dialects here in the UK fall into that category – I remember visiting Lincolnshire when I was young and having to ask my mother to translate some of the words being used. And when a coach we were in with the Scouts stopped in Staffordshire it was as though the locals were from a different planet.

But all the locals would have been able to understand the people perfectly and my guess is that YouTube’s automatic captioning would probably cope with them reasonably well.

Which means there’s no need for perfectionism with regard to your accent.

Editing software can get rid of really bad problems but if you’re recording fairly short videos then you should be able to do them in one take, maybe like me with liberal use of the pause button.

The same goes for written work.

This certainly wouldn’t pass a grammar checker – it uses too many hyphens and brackets (been doing that since my age was in single digits so that’s unlikely to change now I’m half a century older), paragraph lengths are short, topics spread out between paragraphs, I use abbreviations and slang.

So this by no means qualifies as being perfect in that sense.

But that’s my style – another grammar faux pas there as I shouldn’t start sentences with words such as but or and.

If people don’t get on with my style, they’ll go elsewhere. The same applies to published authors, even if they’re responsible for best sellers. Not everyone will get on with their style. I’m a lot happier reading Bret Easton Ellis than I am reading Dickens. And whilst I read Catch 22 when I was at school, I know wouldn’t have the patience to re-read it even though it’s a great book and close to perfect.

I’d argue that developing your own style and dividing people with a polarity response is better than being a perfectionist.

For a start, the output of perfectionists is low.

Douglas Adams wrote a lot less books than some of his competitors. And there are even highly successful authors who outsource the main writing of their books – they devise the plot and the writing style, then several writers write the various sections and the named author compiles and edits it. Definitely not perfectionism happening there. But their bank account wouldn’t care.

I remember a quote from Dan Kennedy that said the bank won’t give you a bonus on the money you place in your account just because you’ve worked hard to earn it. Likewise they won’t make a deduction if you’ve earned it easily.

Which comes back to the initial question: can you cure your perfectionism?

The answer is really up to you.

Often with this kind of problem the solution is to chip away at the edges.

Pick something that you don’t care if it’s not perfect – an email reply or a Facebook post maybe.

Then move up to bigger stumbling blocks. Because perfectionism is a stumbling block.

Whichever way you look at it, it’s holding you back from your potential.

Next to nothing in your life has to be absolutely perfect.

Diamonds aren’t perfect – there’s even a grading system that takes account of their imperfectionisms.

Some works of art are highly prized for their imperfections – the Baroque style is based on being imperfect.

Trendy shops and cafes are often in converted buildings where the brickwork is left exposed.

Embrace your imperfections and enjoy the feeling of creative liberation that often comes alongside them.

Whilst there may be no specific cure for perfectionism, you can certainly work on turning down your own dial for it and watching your productivity soar.