Do you suffer from the dreadful disease of perfectionism? I do. Many people call me a perfectionist and say it even sometimes in a half envious tone of voice – as if it is more gift than a burden – but for those of us who suffer with it – we know that it is definitely the latter.
Perfectionists are constantly stressed always striving for an outcome that is probably not realistic and often unachievable and constantly becoming disillusioned and disappointed when the unrealistic “perfect” expectations do not quite come into fruition.
A very wise colleague said to me recently “The truth of the matter is, there are no perfect days, there are just some days that run smoothly than others… and those days are the ones we should strive for… the others, well, they are the other.”
How wise… I felt immediately like a huge weight had been lifted. I didn’t need to expect my days to be perfect – that was no realistic. I just needed to hope and expect my days to run as smoothly as possible. By changing the focus from perfection to smoothness, my stress levels dropped dramatically.
For too long I realised that I keep trying to measure my days with 2 extremes… either perfect or disastrous – how unfair of myself…. Cheating myself of all the degrees of success in between!
So next time you catch yourself being too hard on yourself – just remind yourself – there are no perfect days – there are just days!
Perfectionists are constantly stressed always striving for an outcome that is probably not realistic and often unachievable and constantly becoming disillusioned and disappointed when the unrealistic “perfect” expectations do not quite come into fruition.
A very wise colleague said to me recently “The truth of the matter is, there are no perfect days, there are just some days that run smoothly than others… and those days are the ones we should strive for… the others, well, they are the other.”
How wise… I felt immediately like a huge weight had been lifted. I didn’t need to expect my days to be perfect – that was no realistic. I just needed to hope and expect my days to run as smoothly as possible. By changing the focus from perfection to smoothness, my stress levels dropped dramatically.
For too long I realised that I keep trying to measure my days with 2 extremes… either perfect or disastrous – how unfair of myself…. Cheating myself of all the degrees of success in between!
So next time you catch yourself being too hard on yourself – just remind yourself – there are no perfect days – there are just days!
