To the perfectionist seeking perfection:
First things first, I feel you!! I too strive for everything to go exactly as planned. Endless hours of hard work and determination is put in to ensure our vision becomes a reality. We “know” that if everything goes according to plan, no one can be let down.
Unfortunately, this isn’t realistic, and it isn’t a healthy lifestyle to live with. If everything is as perfect as we want it to be, will it bring the happiness we seek? For instance, if you’re surrounded by someone who always looks amazing, always says the right thing, always gets promoted, and always seems to have their life together, how does that make you feel? Like shit, right? Being around people who are always “perfect” makes us not want to be around them. This is because no one nor nothing is perfect, and when we are surrounded by individuals who claim to be, we instinctively distance ourselves because we know it’s not true.
Wanting to feel in control is a very desirable feeling.
Depending on others is hard and it’s much easier to just “do it myself.” Wanting to ensure success is our biggest ambition as a perfectionist and sometimes we push others away because we think it will be easier. If this is you, let these people help. It’s not going to be easy let me tell you, but the more you let go of the “control” factor the better the result will be. Some things just aren’t a one-man-show and even though you think doing it yourself will ensure everything to be “flawless”, this mostly isn’t the case.
From the outside looking in, others don’t understand why someone would be so hard on themselves. “Why do they constantly set goals that are bound to fail?” To answer the question simply, us perfectionists love being our harshest critic because we know that if something does fail we have no one to be blame but ourselves. Although this is hard for even me to admit, creating manageable expectations for people and projects will eliminate the heartache when something doesn’t go your way.
Perfectionists are natural born leaders. We aren’t afraid to take charge and ensure that the job gets done and gets done well.
However, from one perfectionist to another, wanting everything to be perfect 24/7 is exhausting.
The constant effort to ensure everything goes according to plan and the resistance to step outside your comfort zone can affect relationships and future success.
Let yourself be imperfect.
No one is nor will anyone ever be perfect. The moment you let go of these worries and live your life with the mindset of being happy with what you’ve done in your life, you will achieve the utmost bliss.
Stay imperfect.