The Pushmi-pullyu Of Perfection - The Perfect Job

The Pushmi-Pullyu of Perfection - The Perfect Job

If you have a job without aggravations, you don’t have a job. —Malcolm Forbes

JUST THE IDEA of perfect work makes me laugh out loud. Yes, I enjoy running my own marketing company, but let me tell you, even when it’s your own business—it ain’t perfect.

As a young professional, my pushmi-pullyu of perfection required that my work be exhilarating in every way. I thought my daily labor should be intelligent and interesting; I wanted a job where I could provide strategy. I thought the people I worked with should enthusiastically accept my direction and input; I thought I was the answer to the world’s management problems. I thought the customers I served would appreciate the daily investment I made to ensure their success. Instead I found that they expected me to walk on water every day. And I thought my superiors would recognize and congratulate me on a job well done by promoting me to a role with more authority. Oh, and the job would pay megabucks as I make a difference for mankind. Ha. Ha. Ha.

As it does with most high achievers, the pushmi-pullyu of perfection was stalking me at the office. Regardless of my position or the strides I made, she continued to follow me from floor to floor. The epiphany would not come for several years, when I finally realized that it was not the work itself but my expectations that were warped. So just as I accepted that Mr. Perfect didn’t walk the face of the earth, I finally came to the conclusion that perfect work doesn’t exist either. By accepting the fact that the projects would not always be challenging, that many of my positions would not be fulfilling, and that the tasks I was expected to complete would not always be perfectly aligned with my greatest strengths, I achieved much greater satisfaction without having to change my career.

So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Do you need to get your pushmi-pullyu out of the workplace too? Pray that God will allow you to adopt a new way of thinking.