Perfect may be the enemy of good, but it’s hard to silence that internal critic, especially when you care deeply about your work. Sometimes, you have to be prepared to fight dirty, and silence your inner perfectionist — even if you have to be as mean as that little voice that tells you things aren’t good enough.
In this week’s roundup, we look at how to do that, plus what interviewers say about you after you leave the room and how confirmation bias affects your life and career.
Scott Mautz at Skip Prichard’s blog: 6 Helpful Insults to Hurl at Your Inner Perfectionist
Mautz suggest starting by telling that critical voice that you’re going to “slap the should” out of them.
“Seriously, strike the word should from your vocabulary,” he advises. “When perfectionists use the word, like in the sentences, ‘I should go over this again to make sure it’s 100 percent right,’ ‘This should be a lot better than it is right now,’ or ‘I should have done X and Y,’ it’s like granting a license for perpetual revisiting and remorse. Stop. Will more massaging really change the outcome? Tell yourself done is done, dammit.”
Get more useful tips at Mautz’s post (or check out his book, Find the Fire: Ignite Your Inspiration–and Make Work Exciting Again.)
Alison Green at U.S. News: Here’s What Your Job Interviewers Say After You Leave the Room
Have you ever wondered what interviewers say about you, after you shake hands and depart? Alison Green of Ask a Manager has some good news — and some tough-but-useful news:
“If you’re worried that interviewers are trash-talking you, they’re probably not, even if you weren’t right for the job,” she writes. “But interviewers do have certain ways of naming potential issues – and potential strengths – of the candidates they talk with.”
For example, she says that interviewers might highlight certain skills that are lacking (or strongly apparent), as well as commenting on questions that the interview didn’t resolve. Get more insight, here.
Nir Eyal at Psychology Today: Confirmation Bias: Why You Make Terrible Life Choices
“Confirmation bias is the human tendency to seek, interpret, and remember information that confirms your own pre-existing beliefs,” Eyal writes. “It is insidious. It affects every choice you make. Every. Single. Day. The things you choose to buy, your health, who you choose to marry, your career, your emotions, and your finances. It all happens in the background without you noticing.”
Eyal says that confirmation bias is an evolutionary trait, and as such, you’re not going to escape it altogether. But you can work to counteract its effects. Find out more, in his article.
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