Let go of perfectionism

In this life there are people who pressure and have really high expectations about others, for example parents to their children, but others have high expectations to themselves. I have been very lucky to only have supportive family, though unfortunately I am a perfectionist, so I pressure myself.

When I am trying to do something, I want to perfect every millimeter, trying to reach the best quality. However, am I really accomplishing that? The answer would be no, I repeat so many times the same thing, again and again, in the end I only end up getting frustrated and well... give up. I have this picture in my head of how this project is supposed to be, it’s a picture of perfection, in the bottom I know that’s impossible to reach and it is not bad just because it doesn't look exactly how I want it, but my mind and perfectionism tell me it’s not good enough. It gives me low self esteem, it makes me believe I am not capable, it makes me scared of failing, so I don’t even try. I try and try to impress others and reach their expectations, the truth is they're proud even by the smallest things, so really I am just trying to reach my own expectations.

If you are anything like me, then this goes to you too. Sometimes perfectionism can be a good thing, it gives us the ability to take out the best in ourselves, but sometimes it gets so far, that it drains our energy. We have to learn when to be perfectionists, if we are it all the time, it will do no good. We need to learn to let go and take the risk to fail, because it’s how we learn and it’s ok. If you think about it, when you let go, you can have fun, splash the painting on the canvas like you’re crazy, maybe you will have a beautiful masterpiece or maybe you won’t, but at least you know you tried and next time you will use some other colors that look better. If we make a mistake, instead of getting frustrated why don’t we get a good laugh out of it and try again. We miss so many lessons, so many opportunities of the artworks that could have been done, just because we don’t want to let go.

Here are some quotes:

“There's no need to be perfect to inspire others. Let people get inspired by how you deal with your imperfections.” (By Ziad K. Abdelnour)

“The only way you are going to have success is to have lots of failures first”

(By Unknown)

“You never fail until you stop trying” (By Albert Einstein)

Let’s help each other be less perfectionists and enjoy life more, so next time you make a mistake, laugh about it as hard as you can and try again, but this time, don’t give up. If you only make make a small mistake that is not even noticeable, let it be, you don't need to start over just for that, keep going. Are you up for the challenge? I hope you enjoyed this post and learned something new.

BTW, sorry for not posting. I am not going to invent some excuse because this place is a place to be honest, I have been a bit blocked, but I am back now.

As always,

Remember, Be You.

Naia :)