# When “doing it right” stops you doing it at all

Create a middle option between perfection and giving up.

Source: https://www.drmahrukh.com/journal/perfectionism-all-or-nothing.html

Mintlife Health editorial. AI-assisted; approved for publication September 13, 2026.

You can imagine the ideal version so clearly that a smaller attempt feels embarrassing. If you cannot complete the full routine, you skip it. If the first draft is awkward, you avoid opening it. Perfectionism can make an ordinary task feel like a public test of who you are. Coaching can explore how that standard operates and what it costs you. The immediate goal need not be becoming relaxed about everything. It can be learning where a good-enough version serves your values better than no version.

## Define adequacy before the task becomes emotional

Choose a low-stakes activity and write three levels: minimum acceptable, useful improvement, and unnecessary polish. The categories are your experiment, not universal rules. A safety-critical task needs different standards from a personal journal entry. Naming that distinction matters. Ask what the task is for and whose judgment you are anticipating. If the expected criticism is mostly your own, consider what information would help you decide the work is ready rather than revising indefinitely.

## A small experiment to try

1. Select a low-stakes task you repeatedly over-polish.
2. Write what successful completion actually requires.
3. Set a stopping condition that matches that purpose.
4. Finish and review the real consequences instead of the feared ones alone.

Illustrative example: A routine meeting update needs three accurate points and a clear request. It does not need an elegant narrative, custom graphics, and twelve rounds of rewriting.

## What to notice

Notice completion, time spent polishing, and whether the feared consequence actually occurred. Keep the experiment proportionate to the task.

Where is your standard protecting quality, and where is it preventing participation?

## Coaching support in Reston and the DMV

A coaching conversation can explore the situation around a habit: what comes before it, what it provides in the moment, and what would make another response easier. The aim is a realistic plan you can evaluate, rather than a promise of permanent change after a fixed number of sessions.

Persistent distress or substance dependence can require medical care. Coaching can complement appropriate care; it does not replace assessment, medication, or medically supervised withdrawal.

Request a free 15-minute discovery call: https://www.drmahrukh.com/#connect

1920 Association Drive, Suite 509, Reston, VA 20191. +1-703-400-5314. info@mintlife.health.

## Sources

[NIH: Creating Healthy Habits](https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2018/03/creating-healthy-habits)