Perfectionists have incredibly high standards. And incredibly high standards make things impossible, creating an endless cycle of procrastination, overwhelm, and discouragement.

With finances, it usually starts with some “expert” advice. For example, financial experts say that we should save 20-40% of our income. They will tell us how much to budget for the clothing allowance. They will give us a safe way to pay off our debt.

Now, these are all great goals. They look great on paper and work well for some people. But for a perfectionist, this well-intentioned advice can turn into a trap.

Perfectionists spend most of their time letting their caveman brain make the decisions. This primitive portion of the brain is very rigid and thinks only in terms of black and white. With the caveman brain calling the shots, a perfectionist is operating from an all-or-nothing, hit-or-miss system.

Has this ever happened to you?

So when a financial expert tells a perfectionist how to do something, he has to do it exactly that way or else it’s not right. And anything less isn’t even worth doing or trying. So here are three scenarios of how it could play out:

Procrastination: The perfectionist wants to set a goal of saving 20% ​​of their income, but deep down they feel impossible. Before he even starts, he’s going to have to retrieve his old records from the last 5 years and set up some sort of system for budgeting, or else he’s better off not even starting! And where are you going to find that extra 20%, anyway? That’s going to be a lot of work, and he just doesn’t have time for it. After all, he has already cut into his free time by bringing work from the office home.

Overwhelm: Well, this perfectionist has her whole system figured out! She did it exactly right and now it’s time to put it into practice. She keeps all receipts and records all expenses in her ledger. But she waits! What happened to her lunch receipt? How much did that lunch cost, anyway? Maybe she can check her credit card account online. Expect! It has not been published yet. She’ll just write a note to check tomorrow, so she won’t be able to reconcile today’s ledger until tomorrow…soon, there’s a glitch in her perfect system, and she sinks in overwhelmed trying to meet! with the plan!

Discouragement: This perfectionist is five days into the plan when he realizes the oil needs to be changed. How could he forget to budget for maintenance on his car? Then there’s the unexpected office party. I should have known things like this would come up! This shouldn’t be that hard, but there’s no way he can earn 20% this week. He can’t seem to fix himself and he thinks this kind of thing will never work out for him!

step to success

Perfectionists are hard-working and highly intelligent people, but their all-or-nothing thinking leads to failure in their own lives. They can be workaholics, trying to execute everything perfectly and ending up with no energy for their own goals or fun. Or everything seems so complicated or overwhelming that they procrastinate or give up.

The key to success with financial goals is to move slowly and simply. Since the perfectionist thinks in terms of success and failure, he must create success by starting small and slowly. Set aside the ultimate goal of saving 20% ​​a week for now and create a new goal that can bring you absolute success.

Make the new goal easy to reach and easy to execute. Don’t put a lot of planning into it, or it might not happen. So maybe you’re just going to start saving $1 a week.

Now I know what the perfectionist thinks; after all, I used to be one! Why bother? That’s ridiculous! That’s worth nothing! That is not worth it! That’s the caveman brain talking, and you just have to learn to ignore it and set the goal anyway. Remember that we are intervening slowly and simply.

After a month of success, increase the number to $2. Or maybe you’re even ready to bump it up to $5 a week. But remember, keep the increments small and simple so you can continue to be successful and eventually reach that 20% goal. If you start to feel those signs of procrastination, overwhelm and discouragement, recognize them as the perfectionist’s trap. Just take a step back and get back to work on the plan, so you can feel good about what you’re doing and continue to be successful.