Did you ever watch one of the "extreme" shows on television now about people who have really, really messy houses? Did you ever hear someone describe them as perfectionists? Huh? How can that be? After thinking about it, it did make sense.
You see, perfectionism can be a trap.
In this example, the person is so focused on making everything so perfect, that if it doesn't meet their standards, they just simply do nothing.
The perfectionism eats away at their ability to even perform the simplest chores; good is never good enough.
It saps their energy and motivation and turns them into a shadow of their former selves.
Today's companies would never succeed if they were married to a perfectionist model.
The market moves too quickly to plan for every contingency or account for every flaw (some people would say that some companies need a little more perfectionism injected into their processes to make better products).
The business world simply moves too fast to allow for perfectionism.
For a perfectionist, retirement can be very scarey.
It's sometimes easier to do nothing than to try to create your ideal life in retirement.
If you are a perfectionist, how does it affect you and your planning for your life in retirement? As yourself these questions to see If you could possibly be falling into the perfectionist trap:

• Do you plan to retire when you have finished _________?
• Do you feel like you can't retire until _________________ happens?
• Do you want to retire but are waiting for just the right moment?
• Are you avoiding retirement because you have no idea of how you will fill your time?
• Are you avoiding taking action at all because you feel that everything must be perfect to move forward?

Perfectionists are sometimes the last ones to recognize its power over them.
They beat themselves up over small missteps that a normal person would slough off.
So, if you find that you are trapped in a perfectionist model, first, be kind to yourself.
You have to be your own best advocate because nobody else will fill that role.
Second, realize that sometimes good has to be good enough.
If you labor over something, will it really make it any better or will it drive you crazy? Third, ask yourself what is the worst case scenario if this ________________ is not perfect? In most cases, the worst case scenario will not occur and even if it does, you have a plan to solve the problem.
Unfortunately, life is sometimes messy, even in retirement.
Taking action and reminding yourself that not everything has to be perfect can help you transition into retirement more quickly and easily and can make you a lot easier to live with as well.
Sometimes, good is simply good enough.