In the last post, we talked about how perfectionism is an indulgence keeping you in inaction and why you might want to stop.
Today, we’ll talk about how.
As always, we start with awareness. Notice when you feel tight, stressed, pressured, rushed, overwhelmed, worried, inadequate, disappointed, or frustrated.
What are you thinking that has you feeling this way?
What are you making that mean about you?
Is it true?
What is true at this moment?
What would you rather think, feel or do instead?
Do that.
Here are a few examples:
When you’re leaving your house for the day & feel like it needs to be picked up, you run around putting dirty dishes in the dishwasher, picking up socks off the living room couch, and putting shoes on the floor in the mudroom up on shelves.
What if someone else sees what a mess this place is? They will know I’m a hot mess, not a good wife or mom. But, of course, that’s not true. What is true is you’re a busy mom getting everyone out the door in the morning.
What about the “perfect” email at work?
You feel stressed about what to say & how to say it. You worry that everyone will think you’re dumb & don’t know what you’re doing.
What is true is you’re doing your best to communicate a request, and you want to do a good job.
Make sure your husband does it “right:”
You’re irritated and think he will break something irreparable or expensive to fix, but that is not necessarily true. What is true is he, too, is doing his best to fix it. You can choose to have faith in this.
Over-preparing for a meeting at work:
You’re spending so much time agonizing over what you will say, how you will say it, who you will delegate what to, and every bit & piece of the meeting. You’re worried they will think you don’t know what you’re doing, but that is untrue. You do know what you’re doing- at the very least, you’ve earned your position here in the first place.
If you’d like help noticing & then mitigating your perfectionism tendencies, I can help you. You can book a complimentary consult & let’s talk (LHW Employees book here).
P.S. Nature is the only thing that’s perfect anyway.
