Wanting to do things perfectly stops you before you even start. Freezing before taking the first action. Putting things on hold trying to figure out a flawless way to carry on.
Do you find yourself constantly in these situations?
Wanting to do your best at every task and deliver top-quality work is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it gives you an extra kick to be efficient, and on the other hand, you can easily lose yourself, and get stuck on a task, or even quitting altogether.
Learning where perfectionism has a positive impact and where it does not is key to have a healthy life and to feel good about yourself.
As Leo Tolstoy put it “If you look for perfection, you’ll never be content.”
Therefore, pay attention to the negative effects of perfectionism and moderate it while still having high standards.
Here are 3 tips that will help you.
Adjust Your Standards
Easier said than done, right? If you change the way you think about failure and manage your perfectionism you won’t be disappointed ever again. So it’s absolutely worth it. You’ll see the value and wisdom every experience in life has given you.
Try acknowledging your behavior and see in what aspects your standards get in your own way.
Yes, we’ve all had failures that made our lives miserable and it’s natural not wanting to go through the same difficult experiences again. But is it better not to do anything at all?
I don’t think so. If you have doubts, make a case study of yourself considering all the times you thought you’d be terrible at something and you could figure it out.
Think about all the unnecessary anxiety you’re putting yourself through in the process of achieving the unachievable. If you learn how your brain tricks you into obsessing with small details and procrastinating, you’ll be able to look at the big picture and not let your perfectionism shoot you in the foot.
Think of what situations tend to bring out your perfectionist behavior and how you can deal with the situation better next time. And by better, I mean calmly and patiently, not outperforming.
Don’t Quit If Things Don’t Go As Planned
If thinking about facing an issue in the middle of a task is your worst nightmare, welcome to the club! This behavior can easily lead to leaving things unfinished. Thus, it’s a limiting behavior.
We often think about the worst-case scenario if we’re not overachieving, over-functioning, or excelling at every single thing in life and this causes us to feel like a failure and quitting. Instead, give yourself a reason to move on!
Get comfortable with not always being the best and experimenting along the way.
Celebrate Your Progress
You deserve it! Taking the time to reflect on all you’ve done on the week or the day will make you realize how hard you’re working and enjoy your wins before jumping on the next project or focusing on the small flaws.
Notice when you successfully balanced your perfectionist tendencies and ended up moving things forward. Sometimes just getting things done is a big accomplishment.
Give your best and be your biggest supporter, not a critic.