Why Perfectionism Keeps You Stuck, Stressed, and Unhappy
There are two key ways people get addicted to perfectionism.
The first is insecurity and a fear of being judged. “If I get everything absolutely perfect then nobody will be able to criticise!”
News Flash! People will judge and criticise you anyway, but if you have the courage to be vulnerable – to let your true authentic self be seen, warts and all – you will also have people fall in love with you for being genuine and real. And you will know people love you for you, not a fake, guarded, filtered version of you.
The second is an excessive need for control. Some people have trained themselves to need certainty so strongly that they need to feel certain before they try anything. They need guarantees they will not put on weight if they change their diet, that they won’t be hurt in love, that their business idea will be a success.
You don’t get certainty on this side of the transaction. The only certainty you have with excessive control is stress and anxiety. Things are going to change anyway. And if you want new progress or new results in your fitness goals, your relationships, or your business goals, you WILL make mistakes and have failures. They are ESSENTIAL to success.
Perfectionism feels comforting but it costs you so much more in the long term. Perfectionism will:
Keep you stuck in your fitness goals. You’ll see food as good and bad, days as good and bad, and even yourself as good and bad. Food will be stressful.
You’ll get less done, spending hours getting one thing perfect.
You’ll learn slower. Mistakes, problems and failures are tools that teach us how to improve. The longer you take to execute and complete, the longer it takes to get that feedback.
Your relationships will suffer, because you’ll be a highly strung, stressed, anxious, obsessive pain in the ass!!
Perfectionism is the art of missing the big picture. Focus on outcomes and getting things done, not perfect.
Author: David Godfrey