You may have heard that letting go of perfectionism is a great way to become more productive and creative, less stressed out, and happier. This blog post will discuss how letting go of perfectionism can help you be more successful in your life.
What Is Perfectionism Anyway?
Perfectionism is a fixed mindset that makes you believe your worth depends on being perfect. In other words, if you don’t do perfectly well in everything, there’s something wrong with you and people will think less of you.
This can be a real waste of time and energy in your business. When you develop this mindset, it can lead to procrastination or staying stuck. However, letting go of perfectionism helps us take action without becoming too anxious about our performance. Choosing to get things done and not letting fear hold you back will make you more successful, but this is easier said than done.
So how do we overcome this?
How to Cope With Your Inner Critic
What you’ll find is that letting go of perfectionism will help you to be more productive, creative, and successful. You need to first realize what’s holding you back from letting go of it. Everyone has that little voice that criticizes your actions. Listening to that voice erode your hopes and dreams is not healthy. But how do you get that mean girl to shut up?
First, learn how it affects you and what triggers cause her to talk more loudly in your head. Maybe she gets louder when you have a big project or assignment due at work. Learn these triggers so that next time they happen, the negative voices won’t overwhelm you as much.
Next, accept that you can’t avoid failure. We all fail at something and letting go of perfectionism will help you to embrace these moments. Remember that no one gets everything right all the time and making mistakes or failing doesn’t make you a bad or unworthy person either!
Last, change your mindset. If we tell ourselves that mistakes are normal and they’re not the end of the world, negative thoughts won’t hold us back from taking action when we need it most. We’ll be more creative in our approach to get the job done.
Letting go of perfectionism is not easy, but it’s totally worth letting yourself off the hook when you mess up sometimes.
Tips for Letting Go of Perfectionism and Embracing the Real You
The first tip of letting go is allowing yourself to be human. You’re not perfect (sorry but no one is) and you never will be. Knowing that failure needs to be part of the process should give you some grace in your perfectionism, but often we forget that we must fail in order to succeed.
Another tip for letting go of perfectionism is practicing self-compassion instead of beating yourself up. When mistakes are made or tasks don’t turn out as they should, focus on what you can do to fix it, learn from it, or change it. Don’t focus on the fact that you didn’t get it right. Focus on the actual issue and try something else and see if you can fix it.
Most importantly, remember all progress counts! Even small steps in the direction towards your goals matter equally as much big ones. Celebrate every small step so you can appreciate how much progress you are making. Even if that progress is not at the rate you wish it was.
Perfectionism and Mental Health
If you are suffering from a mental health issue, letting go of perfectionism may not be the solution. If you have anxiety or depression, letting yourself do less is often helpful in managing it better. So if this describes your situation please contact a doctor or therapist for help with overcoming these issues and let them guide you through the process of letting go of perfectionism.
Other things you can do to protect your mental health is to schedule time for things that you enjoy and let yourself take a break when you need to. It’s important to know the difference between productive work and counterproductive habits so stay aware of what your actions look like in order to avoid burnout or becoming overwhelmed with how much needs to be done.
Wrapping Up
The inner critic in all of us is a powerful thing. It can be so loud and demanding that it drowns out the voice of our own values, dreams, and ambitions. This week we’ve been talking about how to cope with your inner critic by letting go of perfectionism and embracing the real you.
I hope this blog post has helped you find some peace in knowing that no one is perfect–even if they seem to like it from afar!–and that being imperfect doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you or worth hiding from others. If these topics have resonated with you, I invite you to explore my coaching services for leadership development or follow me on Facebook.
