I am not perfect.
Say what?!?!
I know.
True story.
And I’m faaaaaar from perfect.
But I do have perfectionist tendencies. Which can be both a good and bad thing.
I realize that it all has to do with the motivation and energy behind why I am trying to be “perfect.” Is it to impress others? Is it an attempt to avoid failure? Is it out of concern of what others will think of me?
Have you read “The Gifts of Imperfection” by Brene Brown? GREAT book.
Here’s a thought-provoking quote:
Healthy striving is self-focused: “How can I improve?”
Perfectionism is other-foucused: “What will they think?”
Healthy striving. I love this idea. When I think about all the ways my perfectionism is good for me, it is usually in the “healthy striving” sense. Like learning a new piece of piano music and playing it as well as I can. Or being consistent in my workouts and doing the exercises to the best of my current ability. Or creating a lesson plan that will meet my students where they are, and not one that looks text book “perfect”.
This grand plan to appear perfect all backfires when I am trying to impress people. The people I am performing for. Or the folks at the gym. Or my students.
That’s when perfectionism gets the better of me and knocks me down. Hard.
It creates a lot of extra mental noise in my head. Self-doubt. Self-criticism. Self-judgement. All those “self” words that are no good.
Yet owning my imperfections…so incredibly freeing! WOW!
I’M NOT PERFECT!
I am … FLAWESOME!!!!
YEY!!!!
I don’t teach my students perfectly.
I don’t perform pieces of music perfectly.
I don’t write blog posts perfectly.
I mess up ALL the time. And it takes the pressure off. Completely.
Some of today’s lessons were a disaster. They did not go as planned. Nor did my workout. Nor is the writing process before I press the “publish” button on this post.
But if I don’t let go of this need to be “perfect”?
It is PARALYZING.
I will never get anything done and just feel bad about myself. All. The. Time.
So embrace your imperfections! Do it wrong. Make mistakes.
Because we are all perfectly imperfect.
Today’s shoulder/bicep workout:
Be you.
Do what makes you happy.
And do it all imperfectly.