Your parents raised you to work hard and strive for your best. This push made you complete your homework, study hard, and aim for a high percentage on all assignments, quizzes, and tests.
This hard work and determination didn't stop at your education. It flowed into your career as well. You're typically the one to arrive early and leave late. You're always getting your work done and even offering to help your teammates with theirs.
While there's nothing wrong with wanting to do your best, there's a huge difference between doing your best and being perfect. Here are 5 ways to overcome perfectionism.
1. Become Aware of Your Tendencies
A great first step into overcoming perfectionism is to recognize and become more aware of your perfectionistic behaviors and tendencies. Journaling is a great way to identify the thoughts that surround these tendencies. Use prompts to write about how you respond to certain to-dos or situations. You can also keep a journal on hand and use it to write any of your thoughts and feelings down the next time you feel your perfectionism taking control. After you have enough journal entries, you can look back on them to help you determine any key themes or repetitive thoughts and behaviors and work to change them moving forward.
2. Set SMART Goals
Most of the time, perfectionists tend to set impossibly high or unachievable goals. These types of goals can lead to experiencing low self-esteem and feeling unaccomplished. It's important to set goals that can actually be accomplished. Setting SMART goals is a great way to ensure that your goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. SMART goals can help make sure that you're working towards something that can be done. This can help you avoid feeling like you worked hard for nothing due to falling short of your goals.
3. Challenge Your Thoughts
Perfectionists often have low self-esteem. They have a hard time giving themselves grace due to always falling short of the unrealistic expectations that they set. Due to these unachievable goals, they tend to have more negative thoughts and feelings compared to others who are striving for their goals. It's important to challenge those negative thoughts of not being good enough and replace them with more realistic views and thoughts of yourself. Practice makes perfect. With the right amount of time and dedication to this change, you can work to have a healthier and more positive outlook on yourself and your life.
4. Celebrate Those Teachable Moments
Give yourself grace. No one is perfect. Don't hold yourself to impossible standards. Treat yourself like you'd treat a loved one. Mistakes are what make us human. They're bound to happen every now and then. Instead of fixating on the things you did wrong, try to focus on the things that went right. Mistakes are part of what helps us to learn, grow, and do better the next time.
5. Seek Additional Support
While there are different strategies or lifestyle changes that you can make to overcome your perfectionism, it isn't always easy to change something that you've been doing for an extended period of time. It's important to recognize when to seek additional support. Perfectionism may seem like a great thing at first, but it can creep into your life and cause other issues that can be even more challenging to change. If you're struggling with perfectionism, consider reaching out to a mental health professional to work through the signs and symptoms and develop strategies to move forward. It's time to change those perfectionistic behaviors and accept being good enough. Reach out today to learn more about spiritual counseling and set up an initial consultation.