Realizing that fear can show up as perfectionism can be a huge eye opener. It was for me. I’ve always strived for excellence in everything I do from my health to my work. This has many positive aspects like self realization and success but it can also have its down side.
First or all, aiming for perfection is different than aiming for excellence. Perfection does not exist and trying to attain it is a never ending battle. Second of all, in her book The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown talks about the fact that many of us strive for perfection because we think we aren’t worthy unless we are perfect. This might sound heavy but I have to say that I agree with her.
We must learn to love ourselves no matter what we accomplish or don’t accomplish in a day. We must also not let perfectionism keep us stuck. It’s only in the last few years that I noticed I would not start a project because of the fear that it would not meet my high expectations. This was the case for my blog and more recently the new boutique.
Have you ever had something similar happen to you? Feeling stuck because of the fear of not being good enough? Another manifestation of perfectionism is not finishing things because once again we are afraid it won’t meet our unrealistic high standards.
I’ve been guilty of that one too. In all of this it’s so important to throw kindness at ourselves when we realize that we engage in these behaviours and habits. Thanks to my close friend Jennifer Young who isn’t afraid of falling on her face and has taken many courageous steps in her life, I now feel inspired to let myself off the hook and try new things. There is still a certain unease because my natural tendency is to want to be a rock star at something from the get go but I’m slowly learning to cut myself some slack.
What actions have you taken that scared you because you thought you wouldn’t be good enough but no matter what the result was you were happy you tried?
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Image by Danielle Laporte, a soul that has demonstrated many great acts of courage and the rewards that can await us when we push fear aside and allow ourselves to be perfectly imperfect.