“Do you think this is alright? Or should I put in more color for a pop in the background? Err, may be I’ll just leave it, sometimes simple is beautiful. Oh, wait! But it’s too simple. How will a cosmetic brand like something without enough color? Arghh, God! I just want it to be perfect!!“, cries Nita while showing her work to a colleague.

Nita is an assistant creative director at a budding advertising & media firm. Being a perfectionist, Nita loved delivering the best and the perfect work. She wanted to put her best foot forward for her first task at her first job! She has to come up with a poster design to be presented for a client meeting. Since it’s her first assignment, she wants to get it right and for the perfectionist she is, she is not easily satisfied by what she comes up with.

“I wish I had more time! I’m unsure if this is right or if it is what they expect?”, she whined, rubbing one of her hands on her forehead, while restlessly clicking the mouse with the other. “Why don’t you give this a shot and see how it goes?”, suggested her colleague. “Nah! I’ll research some more and come to a conclusion by end of day”, Nita assures herself. She stayed up all night researching and editing drafts. She feels she made progress, but something isn’t right, her inner conscience tells her.

Constant self doubt is a perfectionist’s uninvited guest! Especially when they are dealing with something for the first time and are in a dilemma if they met their ‘perfect’ definition. This predicament and self doubt often lowers confidence in whatever they accomplish. A perfectionist’s craving for something better never ceases. But the good thing is they put in their heart and soul to produce the best results. However, the feeling of ‘not really satisfied’ leaves them perplexed.

The next day, Nita heads to the meeting room all prepared for the presentation. However, the constant doubt in her head continues to haunt her. She has no choice now, but to present what she came up with. As the clients walk in to the room with her boss Jack, the creative director, she smiles nervously and starts her PowerPoint presentation. She continues to explain the concept behind her poster design in a ‘not so confident’ voice. Once she is done with the presentation, she noticed the clients appear happy with what they were just offered. “Well designed! We like the attention to detail that you put in. Slight modification on the intensity would make this perfect!”, one of the client members commented. Nita sighed in relief as nothing huge was requested and appreciated their feedback.

Once the clients left the room, Jack acknowledged her work and commented, “Good job! But I noticed you were not confident, any issues?”

“I was not really satisfied with what I came up with, I wanted it to be perfect with no flaws”, Nita said with a twinkle in her eye. Jack nodded and replied “That’s okay. It was great work for a first timer. Nita, confidence means the ability to do mistakes without fear. It does not necessarily mean being perfect. How will you know what is meant by ‘perfect’ when you don’t know the flaws?” Nita appreciated Jack’s thoughtful suggestion. She felt she realized where she was going wrong.”Very true, I’ll keep this in mind. Thank you Jack!”, she replied while walking out of the room with him. “Don‘t forget to email me a copy of the design!”, Jack reminded her while entering his cabin. “Will do!” Nita smilingly replied as she headed to her desk, satisfied after a successful presentation.

P.S: The words on confidence were one of the best suggestions I really received from someone. But I don’t work in the Advertising industry 🙂

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