Danny Gregory

Copywriter, creative director, author of several books.

Danny Gregory in his book “Shut Him Up” calls the inner voice a monkey. It makes us achieve perfection in everything from an important project to arranging purchases in a shopping cart. While you are trying to achieve excellence where it is not necessary, “imperfect” colleagues, friends, acquaintances climb to the heights where you should be and manage to conquer new ones. Below are tips on how to silence your monkey.

1. Replace “perfect” with “good enough”

Review your abilities and priorities in terms of reality, not your dreams. In most cases, “good enough” is “perfect”. When you have a distorted value system and are absorbed in small details, it’s much harder to get the job done.

2. Find Mona Lisa’s flaws

This exercise helps you understand that nothing in the world is perfect. Look at Leonardo da Vinci’s world masterpiece and find one or two flaws. More is possible.;) Even great people are not perfect, let alone ordinary people. Keep this in mind every time you try to perfect a project or polish the floor to a shine.

3. Put a period instead of a comma

When an idea comes up, the monkey doesn’t leave you alone day or night. She dissects your idea with the enthusiasm of a naturalist.

We should finish it here, and then develop our idea. Remove one thing, add another. Do you have a better idea?

Endless inner monologue

You can never finish the job, you are never satisfied with the result. You have to fight such a monkey mercilessly: just put an end to it. For example, in a novel you just can’t finish.

4. Don’t let your horse die

The monkey’s words may seem like a hidden truth that only you and her know. She seems to know you better than anyone else in the world (warts, pimples, pimples, etc.), and you have the feeling that you’re standing naked and your figure is far from your model. You’re sure that the monkey’s criticism is true. But in fact, this is an even more subjective opinion than, for example, that of your girlfriend. The monkey knows your pain points and hits right on target.

There is no life where it is perfect.

There is no person with perfect appearance, so be aware that a monkey lies when he calls you to lose an extra kilogram or criticizes your skin tone. Don’t try to be perfect, live here and now, not in the future.

5. Just get started

The monkey wears these masks when it wants to deprive you of self-confidence.

Dwelling on the ideal prevents you from taking the first step. You buy a bunch of brushes and paints before you start drawing. Wait for the right moment — silence, inspiration, a day off — to write.

Paradox: When the seemingly perfect moment comes, something happens again. Guests are coming or you are invited to visit. The secret is that there is simply no perfect moment, so start doing something right now, and don’t let it be perfect. To spite my monkey!

6. Don’t think about the end result

Life is not a route from point A to point B. Only when planning a trip can you endlessly imagine where you’re going, whether it’s heavenly beaches or snow-capped mountains.

When you plan the result of your work, a template pops up in your head that is hard to move away from (“you should write a book, always in three volumes”). Randomness confuses you (you’re offered to write a comic, but you refuse because “that’s not it”). The universe presents surprises that make our lives more interesting, don’t be afraid of them! An ideal is something unnatural. Something that’s lifeless and still.

7. Call a spade a spade

You can put it off because you don’t have a pen or paper or a topic or a teacher or time… You’re busy looking for creative materials or the right contacts. You get the impression that you are busy, even though you are not.

Overpower yourself. We all do nonsense every day. Accept this fact and it will be easier. Separate the appearance of vigorous activity from real things.

8. Remember the story of Vermeer

When your perfectionist monkey is particularly talkative, remember the story of Vermeer and Rosemary, a girl who was asked at art school to make a copy of a work by one of the old masters.

I chose Vermeer. Because I love Vermeer. Needless to say, I suffered terribly while drawing. I couldn’t get my painting to look like Vermeer’s and was very disappointed. I was so discouraged that instead of working with a vengeance, I stopped writing altogether. I can’t write like Vermeer!

It wasn’t until years later, when I came back to painting, that I was overwhelmed by a simple thought: no one could paint like Vermeer! Even his contemporaries. That’s why he’s great. Now I’m giving workshops for aspiring artists and telling them this story. I remind them that the biggest thing they can do is give their all on that single day. Don’t expect your work to look like the work of a master who has devoted many years to painting. I allow their works to be less than perfect and they know what I’m talking about!

Look at your monkey’s face. How nasty she is, right? It’s amazing that this far-from-perfect creation teaches you perfection. Don’t give her a vote, and then your confidence, and with it your productivity, will definitely go up.

Source: https://lifehacker.ru/perfectionism-book/

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