The Wellness Edition No. 15 - "You don't have to get it perfect, you just have to get it going"
You probably remember that I mentioned the struggle with perfectionism before, right? In the past I often preferred not to get anything done at all instead of ending up with a less than perfect result. Thinking back, how stupid was that? How should we aim for perfect results whenever we are still in the stage of learning something? And what actually is a perfect result supposed to be? It merely is an ultra-high expectation from our inner self that is most often impossible to achieve. So the consequence is when demanding perfectionism from us, it only leads to procrastination and self-sabotage in the end. And that is not needed at all!
Perfectionism is only holding you back
"You don't have to get it perfect, you just have to get it going" is a very wise phrase. Getting started is the hardest thing, but as soon as you finally got over that you just have to make sure to get it going and stick with it. As an example; the more we write, the more we work out, the more we draw, the more we practise...the better we get. So we should aim for getting things going instead of aiming for getting them perfect right away. This is a much better approach because we won't get frustrated and disappointed taking this route like we would when expecting perfect results right away.
As I said, my unrealistic expectation of perfectionism was only holding me back. Knowing that I won't achieve the results I wanted me to achieve, did not even get me started at all and this my friends is self-sabotage. Sometimes it still happens but at least I have noticed the mechanisms behind it that hold me back then. It is a big step when you have figured out what is holding you back because as soon as you figured it out, you can find a solution to fix the underlying problem behind it.
So I'd suggest, we should all aim for less perfectionism because this is not helping us to learn and evolve. I am not surprised that we expect to be perfect right away because we live in a society that puts quite a lot of pressure on us ever since we were little kids. Apparently some people learned coping better with it than others. I am certainly one in the latter category. We are expected to perform things extraordinary well and outstanding and if we don't we feel like losers. Most of the time there is no acknowledgement of the things we still did quite well because as long as it is not perfect, it was just not good enough.
Take the pressure out and give yourself a little time before expecting perfect results. Marie Forleo really put it right here, make sure to get it going. And whenever you have it going, don't quit and stick with it.
