Let’s be honest, doing things right the first time makes life much, much easier. When you have a pile of work on your desk (or on your floor, or on your team member’s desk) staring right at you – this is especially true. Let’s also face reality though. Most of the time things must be done multiple times before they are perfect – and we all know this.

Since we know practice makes perfect, why do we put such emphasis on things being done right the first time? OR ELSE! Why do we all expect ourselves to function in this way? Or to stress our teams out? Or fire the wrong people when stress overcomes us and we’ve had it that people can’t live up to our impossible standard?

If this sounds oh so familiar to you, take a deep breath and read the three reasons below. Let’s understand what’s reality going on and find a solution together.

1. Time is the most valuable thing you have. This means we view doing things more than as a waste of time to us. While this is not necessarily the right mindset, at the moment it is hard not to view things in this light. Having a job usually isn’t the only thing on our schedules. Family, friends, health, and other commitments are important to us as well. Therefore, getting things out of the way the first time in a prompt manner is much more convenient.

2. It makes us feel more confident internally. When we complete something right the first time, we gain this sense of internal pride. The truth is, it feels great to do something right the first time! Yes, it can look good externally, but when we know it only took us one-shot it changes the way we feel about ourselves.

3. We don’t want to depend on others. E-V-E-R. Most of the time when we have to do things a second, third, or fourth time we have to go to others for advice or critiques. Not only does this string out the process, but we lose our independence and we hate it.

We hope that reading the above three reasons can provide a little perspective. We don’t have to do things right the first time but we do need to allow ourselves a little more time to get things done, know we are always worthwhile, and have a little trust in those around us to give us good advice. Things can’t always be done right the first time. You believe that you can keep your independence, time, and confidence even if it takes you a few times to finalize the job. Don’t stress, and remember perfection is a process! Let’s talk about managing and setting your expectations.