About four years ago I was a member of the Perfectionist Club. Yep, that was me, living life by the idea that “if it’s not perfect, it doesn’t count.”
To me mistakes were like ninjas, silently plotting to disrupt my work and efforts. I thought if I wasn’t doing everything at 100%, I was failing.
I used to think “if it’s not perfect, it’s not finished”, “I can’t move forward until every detail is flawless” and “mistakes mean I’m not good enough.”
I used to not take breaks until I did a significant number of the things on my to do list. It goes without saying, I felt tired and unhappy.
But through working on my mindset, through increased self-awareness and my desire to change things that were making me feel stale and tired, I changed my way of thinking to “perfection isn’t the goal, progress is”.
As a result, I began to value the small steps I was taking and changed my thoughts and assumptions about myself, my worth, my expertise from
“If it’s not perfect, it doesn’t count.”
to
“What does good enough look like? I’ll do that and learn to do better with practice.”
Progressively, mistakes weren’t those pesky ninjas anymore. They turned into guides, showing me what I needed to learn. Understanding how learning works and how mistakes play an essential role in learning helped me shift my beliefs about mistakes big time.
Now, I say I’m a reformed perfectionist. Perfectionism is a remnant of what it used to be.
I appreciate my progress, the small steps I take and have confidence they will get me where I need to go. I appreciate mistakes for the opportunities they actually are for learning.
And guess what?
This shift in mindset didn’t just make me happier – it made me more persevering and curious.
I hear similar assumptions and descriptions from my clients too.
High performers who are stuck and want to do everything in their life to the maximum: a full time job or their own business, activities in their free time, doing a course, reading books, growing their expertise, you name it.
And because I’ve been there too, I can help them change their way of thinking to be able to recognize progress, enjoy the process and the outcome, use mistakes as a springboard for learning and increase their confidence by taking action.
It’s not about being perfect, it’s about making progress, one step at a time.
What small step do you want to celebrate today?
