As long as everything is exactly the way I want it, I’m totally flexible.
Ha-ha, that’s really funny… in a way, but just think about how rigid you can become if everything has to be perfect, top quality, effective and it has to happen right now!
I realized that I still have a very strong combo of being a maximalist and a perfectionist, which is creating a huge amount of pressure on me and my life. Even though that I thought I left this behind with leaving the corporate world. In the past weeks I gave a lot of thought to this and identified, that I need to leverage what is driving me forward and let go of the things that are tying me down!
Being a perfectionist made me not only reach for the unreachable stars many times, but also procrastinate a lot as I was constantly waiting for the right moment or the circumstances to quit my job, follow my life passion, travel, learn something new, love myself and even to have a boyfriend. I’ve put too much pressure on myself: to look perfect, to be perfect, to speak perfect and to behave in a perfect way! Even performing a 100% at work was not enough for me! My head was full of to do lists so everything stays in control!
But now I recognized that it can actually be a pretty cool thing and that I can use it to achieve my goals and to be happier in life! The difference comes from overwhelming yourself with sky high goals to pressure happiness or setting challenging goals to pursue happiness!
Are You a Perfectionist?
Only the best is enough!
You want to accomplish everything at the highest level, more into detail, than needed and in a perfect way. You have to succeed in everything that you do. Only the highest level of accomplishment is good enough, if it’s enough. As a result you will spend much more time on achieving things and be a lot more stressed than necessary, as being the best takes too much effort, but usually doesn’t offer any extras to You, only for you Ego!
Controlling everything!
Since only the best is enough, you want to get things done on your own, as no one can do it better than you or you want to control and know everything. You want to learn new things so you become an expert in another, new area. Again this will lead you to going crazy because of the time pressure which will result in low quality results.
How can you leverage being a perfectionist? What are the pros and cons?
Pros
- You have the drive to create new things!
- You think Big!
- You make a lot of plans and usually achieve your goals!
- You set challenging goals!
- You like quality work!
Cons:
- If you always create new ones, as it’s never enough!
- If you think too big and don’t allow yourself to go step by step!
- If you over plan yourself and your life becomes a to do list with a lot of time pressure!
- If you set goals that are impossible to achieve or takes unnecessary effort and time. You could do it simpler and faster!
- If nothing is good enough because you only acknowledge perfect!
So ‘Dear Perfectionist Friend’, what do we do with all this?
With the help of the below questions leverage what is helping you and let go of what is holding you back!
- What are the positive and negative sides of being a perfectionist?
- How can I remove pressure to become more effective?
- How can I reset my goals so I feel successful but don’t over challenge myself?
- Are there too many focuses in my life? If so how can I reschedule so I become more effective?
If you are interested to read more simple tips of self-improvement, click here!
Done is Better Than Perfect!
Remember life is beautiful, start to live the way You really want Today!
