Aspiring to achieve supreme goals is healthy as long as it does not hinder performance. So, apply the advice: "Don't let perfectionism get in the way of progress."
Agile development is very concerned with repetition or the idea of fast failure to learn, adapt, and improve quickly and continuously, and sees them as very important. Perfectionism actually hinders your ability to develop yourself.
Aspects of perfectionist thinking, such as fear of making mistakes and an all-or-nothing mindset, cannot be useful learning tools, nor will striving for perfection on every project help achieve product goals.
By practicing emotional intelligence, we learn about our strengths and, perhaps more importantly, our limits and how to expand them by learning from mistakes and overcoming challenges. However, when we take on more difficult experiences and do not fear failure, we learn how to do our best work.
This article explores four aspects of emotional intelligence, how to use them to achieve goals, and how to end behaviors that mask a desire for perfection and thinking patterns that are detrimental to energetic teams.
How does emotional intelligence help in achieving goals?
1. Curiosity
Emotionally intelligent individuals are very curious. They explore new possibilities, ask questions, and do not mind searching for different solutions. If we follow perfectionist thought patterns, we will most likely become obsessed with the results of our highly accurate or unique performance. So, we limit our thinking to certain things, and we hinder the learning process that we are supposed to follow as we strive to achieve our goals.
Asking thoughtful questions about the steps we must take to reach our goals will help us stay on course if we encounter obstacles.
Curiosity makes us aware of other choices and directions that we must take to achieve our goals. To do so, we must resist the all-or-nothing mindset and accept that our goal orientations change. It is essential to adapt to an active environment when the unexpected happens.
We cannot completely ignore performance goals. As we work, we will undoubtedly deal with measurable performance goals, such as improving time-to-market by 30% or reducing costs by 10%. Learning goals shift our focus from the end result to the process of learning the best way to achieve the goal. Therefore, if the performance result does not have serious implications for the project, it is advisable to approach goals in a way that focuses as much as possible on learning.
Try new strategies, maintain your progress, and keep iterating until you find the most promising solution. Don't try to achieve perfect results because they will keep you from learning new ways to achieve your goals.
You have to realize when to move to the next solution. It is also important to understand that you will not be able to implement plans without making mistakes, which brings us to another aspect of emotional intelligence that helps you develop your persistence skills.
2. Persistence
Many frustrating things stand between you and your goals. You cannot prevent some of these things from afflicting you, while you can control other things, such as mistakes, setbacks, dependency, or procrastination. We will face frustration on our way to achieving our goals, no matter how much we try to avoid it.
Nothing stops emotionally intelligent people from achieving their goals regardless of their troubles. They know how to work despite frustration thanks to their ability to regulate their emotions, maintain positivity under pressure, and calm themselves no matter how feelings of resentment try to control them.
However, if we give in to the desire for perfection, our fear of making mistakes will increase. We will likely adjust our goals to make it easier for us to face setbacks. We will also tend to procrastinate because we cannot fail in something we have not started yet.
Employing emotional intelligence to combat frustration does not only include self-control; rather, it requires developing or strengthening willpower. When we believe that we will inevitably achieve our goals, we allow ourselves to abandon perfectionism.
Developing willpower can alleviate perfectionistic habits and thought patterns by boosting self-confidence. Those who believe they can achieve something great outperform those who think the opposite. When we are confident that we can achieve specific goals, we will not fear failure based on our belief that we can achieve, regardless of the obstacles that stand in our way.
In the software field, for example, they have to accept the presence of defects. While accepting failure makes people frustrated, following the fail-fast approach allows advanced teams to find and correct defects faster. This means fewer defects in the final product; thus, they have a ready, high-quality program.
3. Cooperation and acceptance
An emotionally intelligent leader shares some of the flaws or criticisms they have overcome. Emotionally intelligent people understand that there is strength in cooperation. Simply put, the team has greater knowledge, experience, and clearer vision than an individual alone.
A diverse team will miss opportunities if it fails to employ these unique experiences and insights. A perfectionist mentality often hinders a cooperative environment.
Perfectionism is, in essence, a set of beliefs about one's relationship with others. Excessive ambition in the unrelenting pursuit of acceptance by others breeds perfectionistic habits. In software, for example, an individual’s achievement does not exceed the team's collective goals.
Leaders should not only encourage cooperation; they should create a cooperative environment with unconditional acceptance of others. Work environments can convey approval and appreciation without affectation when work is done according to a specific standard.
An emotional thought such as “I approve, acknowledge, and appreciate you as an employee for who you are” can be replaced with a statement such as “I approve, recognize, and appreciate you as an employee when you do your job well.”
If this is the only message they can reach, perfectionists can begin by defining their sense of purpose within the team through performance alone.
An emotionally intelligent leader can communicate positive traits and accomplishments to their team. They can even share some of their flaws that were pointed out and the criticisms that were directed at them and that they overcame.
4. Practicing empathy-based self-awareness
Empathy is an essential feature of emotional intelligence. Empathy is defined as "the ability to understand and share the feelings of others." We must also be able to practice empathy-based self-awareness with ourselves as we work to achieve our goals.
Certain situations are out of our control and prevent us from avoiding failure, no matter how hard we try. Excellent employees realize they will fail at some point, but they also realize that the faster they fail, the sooner they can repair the damage.
When we practice emotional intelligence, we accept circumstances and make the most of them. Self-awareness is the basis for understanding our ability. When something outside our control happens, understanding can improve what we do in the future.
Applying Emotional Intelligence to Goals
A goal is just an event you can't completely control. So, committing to a goal requires time, perseverance, and a constant curiosity to learn. If you try to achieve a goal perfectly, you will set yourself up for disappointment. When you focus on building emotionally intelligent habits, you can accept the results as they are and continue to learn new ways to improve.
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