Why being perfect sucks (and I should know!)
When I was little, I had a massive girl-crush on my Auntie Sue. She told me she’d rather have a messy home & a happy family. Huh?
Our house was always spotless. Four kids. Two adults. One dog. One guinea pig. One bathroom.
Didn’t having a clean house = being happy?
I see now that all my mom did was clean. Scurry around with the mop and vacuum. Do laundry for hours a day.
And oh, yes, she hounded us to do our chores in an effort to keep a small house with 6 humans living in it perfectly clean. But WHY?
Well, she didn’t have a lot of control over much else in her life. The house, she could control.
She had an insanely tight budget and very little support. No network in the way that many women today have networks. This was her way of keeping things from blowing up. And the perfection took its toll.
But it didn’t make her happy. Or anyone else.
Perfection creates dis-ease, unease. Why?
Because no one can keep up perfection. When you’re always keeping things perfect, you become exhausted, unhappy, and unsatisfied.
The Perfectionism Dis-ease might be showing up in your own life. Do you have…
- An outline of your dream book living on your computer?
- A half-formed business idea spinning around in your brain?
- A podcast topic burning inside of you?
Why can’t you get this thing you’ve always wanted out into the world? Because if you bring it to the world, it might get messy.
Keep it in your brain, and it won’t be judged. It remains perfect.
I know you don’t want to hear this…but…your Inner Perfectionist is keeping you stuck.
Ohhhh, you might have some great lies you tell yourself reasons you don’t bring your great idea forward. Or why you keep putting off that task.
You say, “I don’t know how.” “I don’t have time.” “The time isn’t right yet.”
These bullshit excuses show the power of our Inner Perfectionist.
So, how do we gain on it? Control the Inner Perfectionist?
Here’s a strategy I use: a teacher of mine asks me to strive for B- work. WHAT?!
Just get it out ther into the world. Done is better than perfct. And as a Recvering Perfectoinst it drives me bonkers to do B- work.
^^Did you see those mistakes ? I’m not even gonna fix ‘em!
B- work right there. And no one died! #winning
{Oh my god it’s killing me to have those errors up there. But I did it anyway!}
Craving to be more productive and bring your ideas to life? Try my strategy:
- Notice how your Inner Perfectionist keeps you stuck. Admitting it is the first step
- Acknowledge it’s going to be hard. Expect discomfort.
- Take a little Low-grade risk.
Ask yourself, “How uncomfortable is it to NOT have this done? Is that worse than the discomfort of bringing it to life?”
Think of your un-done project as a room that’s gonna get messy when your guests arrive. Invite people over to enjoy what you have to offer. Clean it up later. Most likely, if you invite people in, they’re not gonna care.
I always wanted to be at my Auntie Sue’s messy house! Over there, they laughed! They spent time together. They played dress up & hugged & had parties.
It was worth putting up with the messy house to just be with her.
You care waaaayyyyyy more than they care.
If I knew then what I know now, I’d have spent more time doing different things with my life.
When we know better, we DO better.
I’m on a mission to overcome my perfectionism. I tame it, working on my thoughts every day to keep it from running my life.
You have the chance to find happiness. To feel the satisfaction of completing that project. To bring your idea to the world.
Ready to begin your recovery…check out this workshop.
I teach perfectionists how to think about time differently. I promise you: there IS a BIG connection, and I’m on a mission to help you squash your perfection-induced stress!
Price goes from $57 – $70 as of 4/1! (Srsly. It’s a good one. Worth your time. Dive deep & fix shit.)
