Are you the type of person that puts 125% into everything you do, no matter how big or how small the task? Do you ever feel like your pursuit of perfections runs your F-ing life? Has your goal of doing something perfectly ever gotten in the way of starting or completing a project? Have you run yourself ragged trying to perfect something? Perfectionism can be a real pain in the ass!
This is where the art of Imperfection can be a real game changer for you, for us, for all the Perfectionists in the world. My challenge to you is to find a way to make peace with perfect Imperfectionism. What is this concept and how do I master it?
Perfect Imperfectionism is the pursuit of getting out of your own way and learning to let go. Let me clarify, this isn’t about giving up or giving yourself permission to half ass things. Nope, that’s not what this is about. It’s about realizing when your pursuit of Perfectionism gets in the way. Making peace with the fact that no matter how hard you try, you may never achieve true Perfection can be a real game changer in life. Let me introduce a friend of mine called “Self-Compassion.” You might be thinking to yourself, what does Self-Compassion have to do with Perfectionism...ALOT! Imagine what would happen to your thoughts about yourself if that project your working on, laboring over, try to perfect could be injected with Self-Compassion. Hmm...do you think that you’d push yourself as freaking hard or be as self-critical if you found a little Self-Compassion, just a little kindness for yourself and your hard work? What would you say to a friend in they were stuck in the cycle of Perfectionism? “Hey Friend, you’re doing the best you can. You’ve spent time researching the project, you’ve put your best effort in, you can’t be expected to know every unknown variable.” Would it sound something like that? See, Self-Compassion allows us to be understanding, kind and gentle with ourselves and creates space to make room for accepting a little IMPERFECTION.
You see, you have to learn to get out of your own way, to create a little space for Imperfection. Realistically, is the outcome going to be any different if you find a little Self-Compassion and leave room for Imperfection? What will be different...maybe, how hard you are on yourself? Maybe, just maybe, you’ll find a little peace in your life that otherwise gets hijacked by criticism, blame, disappointment or obsessive thinking? Maybe give it a try? What do you have to lose?