If you’ve been following me for any amount of time, you know that I’ve been meaning to revamp my website for ages.
Like, YEARS.
The reasons why I haven’t are multitudinous, but the short of it is, I’ve been waiting until I buy a custom domain to actually do a redesign and turn everything into the beautiful website I envision in my dreams.
Of course I won’t mention that waiting so long to buy the domain and claim “sarainawhitney.com” came with a price of its own: someone got it before I did. 🙄 RIP me.
But THAT was the very thing that was holding me back from redesigning my website: I wanted it to be the website of my dreams.
The perfect one.
That’s what we do as perfectionists. We wait for the perfect moment. For the perfect opportunity. For the perfect scenario. For the perfect mood.
And that means we wait for endless ages…
Because spoiler alert: that perfect moment NEVER COMES.
There’s this agonizing misconception that perfectionism is something to be striven after. Because we think that it means we do our best work. We put our all into everything. We do things as perfectly as we can.
We’re so much better compared to those slobs who leave flaws in their work and don’t treat their finished result as The Most Important Thing…
When all along…we’re the ones with the messy drawers cluttered with paper and a half million unfinished projects and a stagnant life.
Because we don’t do. We wait.
We wait as those slobs get work done and put themselves out in the world and move on after doing things good enough.
That’s what perfectionism does. It halts success. It points a knife tip at your dreams.
Somehow or another, I realized this, as I was scrolling through my WordPress home page. I remembered a header image I’d designed for my Future Amazing Website, just for fun. Then I thought to myself, “uhhh, why I haven’t used THAT as my header image? What’s keeping me from doing that?”
Not only had I designed the header image, but I’d already written all my Future Amazing Website copy and arranged the entire layout of what I wanted my home page to look like.
So what was I waiting for?
I was waiting for perfection.
A grand reveal. A custom domain. The perfect graphics and font and images (which, let it be noted, I still don’t have).
But when I uploaded that header graphic and saw that it actually worked…I realized that I didn’t have to wait. I could start right now. I could make improvements on the website I have right now – I don’t need to wait until I build a whole new one. I don’t need to stay stuck with something I don’t like, just because I’m not yet ready to take on the whole project.
So you know what I did? I took all that home page copy that I’d written and actually used that in place of my original layout.
No, I didn’t do all of it, didn’t take on the entire project. But I did some of it now.
This is the mindset that changes EVERYTHING.
Yes, it won’t be ideal. My current website isn’t my dream one. It’s a work in progress.
But I still like it more now than I did the original.
I’m content with it being good enough for now…and I’m moving on until I can actually buy the domain and probably enlist my brother to help make my ideal website and whatnot.
Be okay with good enough. With making small steps to work toward your sky-high goals, not waiting for those huge overnight revamps and glow-ups.
Sure, maybe you don’t have the mental stamina right now to assess your whole life and figure out a solid plan for fitting writing into your hectic schedule. But you can set aside 5 minutes today to work on your WIP.
Start before you’re ready. Do it good enough. Or just do 5 minutes.
AND YOU CAN ALWAYS CHANGE IT LATER!
Yes, these are mantras I repeat to myself. They work, believe it or not. 😂
Because good enough or half-started is better than nothing at all.
Do you struggle with perfectionism? What’s something you keep putting off because you’re not yet ready? How can you take tiny steps to start it? Is the idea of doing things good enough painful to you? 😅
Saraina Whitney 
If my mom catches me repeating those mantras, I’m 100% blaming you… As a fellow perfectionist, I’m so thankful for this encouragement. Also… it impresses me that someone else took the domain sarainawhitney.com. How many Saraina Whitneys are there in the world? LOL
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HAHA! Blame away! 😜 Aww, I’m so glad it was encouraging! I know, right? I was so certain no one would ever take it that I never felt the urgency to get it 😂
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Mm, amen!!! Such a good point. It’s so easy to believe the perfectionists are the ones getting things done…Thank you!!! ❤ Reminds me of the first verse in the song Impossible by Building 429. It is surprisingly truthful!
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Thank you!!! ❤ Yeah, it’s easy to think that perfectionism is a good thing 😅 And it can spur you on to hone your skills and be the best you can…but at its core, it’s so damaging *sobs* Yes!! That’s a fabulous song! 😉
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Ack, so true. Perfectionism is a real killer, I’ve been learning that too over the past year or two, you just gotta do it. Same with waiting on motivation, also a killer, just do it!
And I’m genuinely amazed that someone beat you to your domain…maybe try a dash between your first and last name, that’s what I do…lol…and usually the .Com is available.😁
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Ugh, yes!! (Lol, there’s this meme that came from YouTube where a guy is giving a motivational talk and he shouts, “JUST DO IT! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?” It’s weirdly motivating! 🤣) But speaking of motivation, you’re so right! Just waiting for it to strike won’t get you very far.
RIGHT? Yeah, I’m going to do a dash between my first and last name if backordering the domain name doesn’t work. 😉 Thankfully saraina-whitney.com is currently available!
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Great article, Saraina! Perfectionism is an easy trap to fall into, and it’s got a false sense of righteousness about it too, which makes it all the more sinister.
I had a look at the domain name on whois.com, and it seems that it is registered until 22/06/24 this year. You can always backorder the domain name, and if the other person lets it expire, then it will automatically purchase it for you. You can also try to contact them to see if they are willing to give it to you. You can do that here: http://www.domain-contact.org. Although that is something you might want to wait until after June to do, since if you reach out to them now, it might remind them to renew it when they otherwise might not.
Also, saraina-whitney.com is available 🙂
Keep the great blog posts coming. I enjoy reading them when they hit my inbox.
Matt
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Thank you so much!! Exactly, I couldn’t have put it better! 🙌
Ohh, I didn’t even think about backordering the domain name! GENIUS. And I’m fine waiting till after June, so I think I’ll do that if I decide to contact them.
Yess, I found that out, thankfully! 😆
Thank you for your comment and your incredibly helpful suggestions! 😊
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“Start before you’re ready. Do it good enough. Or just do 5 minutes.
AND YOU CAN ALWAYS CHANGE IT LATER!”
*drops phone onto lap* Y-Yes, ma’am! Right away, ma’am. 🫡
Okay, but jokes aside, this was such a great reminder. Perfectionism can be such a plague. Thanks so much for the much-needed message, Saraina! This was really well-written. :))
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LOL! 🤣 Aww, thanks, girl!! Yes, it is indeed a plague! 😬 You’re so welcome – and thank YOU for reading, Breanna! 🥰
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I’m sure we can all agree that we needed this reminder, Saraina! I know perfectionism has kept me back from trying to accomplish dreams and plans I’ve had for a while. To be honest, it would’ve kept me back from publishing had Gracie not come along and push me where I needed to go. I try to remind myself of something my pastor says frequently: failure is baked into the cake. It’s been a hard but also encouraging truth for me to accept that yes, I’m going to fail, but often times, that’s really the only way us humans get to where we need to be, though good enoughs and failures. But I think I’d rather be a failure at something than someone who never attempted this thing at all, ya know? So, yes, thank you for sharing this with us and honestly I LOVE the new header image and I’m SO glad you decided to start the changes so the rest of us can enjoy it too!!!
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Oof, same, girl!! 😭 That’s such a good thing to remind yourself! Yeah, failure is gonna happen no matter how much you prepare yourself or try to avoid it. But you’re right, it’s a hard but also *encouraging* truth. ❤ "But I think I’d rather be a failure at something than someone who never attempted this thing at all, ya know?" EXACTLY!
Awww, THANK YOU! 😊
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