Struggling to overcome perfectionism? This guide on how to overcome perfectionism gonna help you for sure. Perfectionism is a positive trait that let a person do his best.
People with perfectionism consider themselves of high standards. They think what they do is never good enough, they refuse to accept any standard short of perfection. For perfectionist having high standards is a good thing, working hard to achieve perfectionism show that they have the strength of character.
But too much perfectionism about everything leads to self-defeating thoughts and behaviors making it hard to achieve our goals. When perfectionism is on our mind every time it causes depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and other mental health issues.
Perfectionists always desire to achieve success, therefore they try their best to avoid failure that is why perfectionists actually tend to achieve less and stress more, making perfectionism a negative or toxic trait.
How to Overcome Perfectionism Anxiety?
As a perfectionist you don’t seem to care about what happens in between and what it will cost you to achieve your goal, all you desire is that end result comes how you wanted it to be otherwise it’ll lead you to depression, anxiety and stress.
If perfectionism can lead you to perform always at high standards, it’ll also affect strongly on your mental health on the other hand. Being a perfect person isn’t easy, it’ll make your task more challenging to meet the goal of being perfect, or even of reaching a personal best.
A perfectionist like high achievers work hard to achieve their goals, however, a high achiever can be satisfied with whatever the outcome will be, but perfectionists will accept nothing less than perfect because falling short of a bigger goal will lead them to stress and depression.
There are studies that suggest that the higher the perfectionism is, the more psychological disorders you’re going to suffer – Sarah Egan
Overcoming Perfectionism Anxiety
Perfectionism can rob you of your peace of mind, enjoyment of life, and self-esteem. Perfectionists are also less likely to disclose their problems to others because they believe that doing so could expose them as less than perfect.
They may not be as likely to seek treatment for anxiety and depression resulting from their attempted perfection. To overcome perfectionism anxiety therapy is the most helpful thing. Therapy led people to overcome their fears, it help perfectionist believe that it is ok to be a failure, it is ok if you don’t meet your desired goals.
Therapists convince them that their ultimate goal must be an achievement, no matter if this achievement comes with perfection or not. They made them believe that mistakes are part of life and it doesn’t matter if you are unable to reach your goal in the first attempt. Being too much conscious about perfectionism can only lead to anxiety, depression, or mental health.
Rules to overcome perfectionism anxiety:
- Be a healthy perfectionist, followed by the rule that achievement is more important than perfectionism. It allows them to stay committed to their goals and fight against the fear of failure.
- Make decisions and then stick to them. This will give you confidence in yourself and you’ll be able to achieve your task without any hurdles.
- Go for good enough. It is the simplest rule that when things don’t go as you expected them to be, learn to accept another side of the picture. It’ll help you to overcome your perfectionism anxiety.
- Challenge your ‘all or nothing’ thoughts. When you realize that after putting so much effort you are still unable to achieve your desired perfectionism then it’s the time you learn that something is better than nothing. ‘all or nothing’, ‘black and white’, ‘success or failure’ is just state of your mind. These are the hurdles in your way to being a high achiever.
- Focus on positive. Don’t let yourself down if you fail to achieve your target in the first attempt. You can’t achieve success without being a failure. Just remember that “Nobody is perfect!”. It’ll help you to overcome your failure.
- Become aware of your skills. It will help you eventually to notice the causes of your failure and let you know the things you are capable of doing.
- Realize that you hurt yourself and the people around you by being conscious of always a perfectionist. You don’t compromise on your standards, you refuse to accept your mistakes, you deny the fact that being a failure is a normal thing and all this creates a fuss in your life resulting in you in loss of your loved ones.
- Self-talk is the best thing to overcome you always be perfectionist anxiety. When you come into contact with yourself, you accept yourself despite being a failure. You realize that making a mistake does not mean you are a failure. It only means that like everyone else you are also a human being, and mistakes are part of life.
- Stop blaming yourself when things don’t go your way. The thing that matters is that you have done your best. Appreciate yourself that you at least attempted to do what was in your mind. Ups and downs are part of life. If one thing doesn’t make sense, don’t stick to it. Instead, motivate yourself to move ahead.
- Always learn something from your mistakes and criticism. It’ll help you a lot being yourself no matter if things and circumstances are in your favor or not. Criticism can give your ideas about your cause of failure.
- Always celebrate your success and failure. Your success will broad your way of looking toward your goals and your failure will help you to learn new things.
Also Read:
How To Be Happy Always – Things that bring Happiness
Overcoming Perfectionism Quotes:
- “The seed of your next artwork lies embedded in the imperfections of your current piece.” – David Bayles
- “Striving for excellence motivates you; Striving for perfection is demoralizing.” ― Harriet Braiker
- “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
- “Perfect is the enemy of done.” ― Catherine Carrigan
- “If you wait for things to be perfect, you walk away with nothing. Just jump in and get started.” ― Jennifer Ritchie Payette
- “The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection.” – George Orwell
- “Much of the stress that people feel doesn’t come from having too much to do. It comes from not finishing what they started.” – David Allen
- “If you look for perfection, you’ll never be content.” ― Leo Tolstoy
- “Don’t aim for perfection. Aim for ‘better than yesterday.” ― Izey Victoria Odiase
- “We can choose to be perfect and admired or to be real and loved.” – Glennon Doyle Melton
- “While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is busy making mistakes and becoming superior.” –Henry C. Link
- “Done is better than perfect.” ― Sheryl Sanberg
- “Perfectionism is self-abuse of the highest order.” ― Anne Wilson Schaef
- “You are magnificent beyond measure, perfect in your imperfections, and wonderfully made.” – Abiola Abrams
- “Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly.”– Robert Schuller
Conclusion:
In the end, it is always one’s own choice, whether to overcome something or not. We always try our best to write down something that helps people, only if they implement and act upon. We know everyone is struggling with something they don’t tell usually, but staying into that for a long period of time will KILL YOUR PEACE OF MIND.
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