Leading with Emotional Intelligence: Hands-On ... - always yours

126 LEADING WITH EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Perfection as an Expectation
The goals you set are very lofty and made without the benefit
of critical thinking or truly examining their feasibility. “Perfection”
rationalizes that you need to stretch and push yourself, so you set
goals that are extreme, unrealistic, unattainable, and without the
slightest margin of error. A thorough assessment of what it takes to
reach them is not made, and you are doomed to complete the loop.
Most of the time the effort, resources, and training you need to
accomplish the goals are not taken into consideration.
In Pure Genius, Dan Sullivan talks about the differences
between ideals and goals and how we often evaluate ourselves
against the ideal and always fall short. He uses the example of the
horizon, which, even though we can see it, doesn’t really exist. If
we chase the horizon, it keeps moving back and we never reach it.
Sullivan recommends that we ask ourselves where we have come
from and assess our progress in achieving our goal. This evaluation
will leave us feeling better about our progress. If perfectionism is
not curtailed, it will thrust you into the endless Perfection Loop,
which is like being thrown into rapids where the force of the water
controls where we go.
Stress and Pressure Going into the Task;
Procrastination
Extreme expectations influence your state of achieving this
goal. Pressure, anxiety, and stress accompany the preparation for
the task and can have an impact on the focus and creativity needed
to move toward the unattainable goal. On an unconscious level, you
know that the task is overwhelming and that you have set yourself
up for failure. This only adds to your anxiety. One typical response
is procrastination disguised as giving yourself time to get ready.
It’s going to take all your effort so “planning” is actually worrying,
“preparing” is actually avoiding, and “resting” is actually putting