Five Ways To Stop Being A Perfectionist

Perfect. That’s what everyone wants to be. Everybody, including you and me, wants to be flawless in everything we do. We want to be master of our subjects and reach the zeniths not many have been attained. And the biggest hurdle on our path to perfection is the fact that perfection has no limits. And so, even if we are perfect in a way, our desire to become better will always stay. This is not only me, but you as well. Some have this yearning more than others. They are perfectionists to the point where they start procrastinating because they can’t reach the level they have set for themselves. This conquest had led to humans having a trait called perfectionism. Perfectionism has been a bigger source of worry, than it has been a source of motivation. Perfectionism has to now be clinically treated and has become the cause for many other mental disorders.

After watching Thomas Curran’s TedMed talk, I knew I was a perfectionist and I needed to stop before it was too late. And so here are five ways I am recovering from perfectionism and maybe you can too.

1) Stop over-expecting from yourself and others

Your more-than-high expectations from someone or something can lead to unhappiness in your as well as the other person’s life. Expectations lead to an unnecessary stress on the person from whom something is expected, as he/she doesn’t want to disappoint.

2) Try and be vulnerable.

We are always expected to be perfect in whatever we do, and we go along with what is expected of us. Sometimes we can try and be a little vulnerable and do things we normally wouldn’t. This helped Adrianne Haslet-Davis in recovering from perfection.

3) Celebrate little things in your life.

Celebrating little things in life will help you to be contented with yourself and lessen your drive to be totally perfect all the time.

4) Don’t be hard on your self.

At the end of an unproductive day, we often berate our own selves for not getting stuff done. On days like these, remember that it’s okay not to get work done and it’s okay to take a break. Nobody is perfect, even if our social media tricks into believing so.

5) Stop worrying about how everything will turn out.

As they say, don’t focus on the destination, instead focus on the journey. Focusing on your efforts more than the results will take away a lot of your stress. Try to give your best shot, and if you couldn’t, it’s alright. There is a reason everything happens, and you just don’t know it yet!

If we could implement a little of all these lives, we can use our perfectionist tendencies as our motivation and stop it from giving us all forms of anxiety and depression.

P.S. This article had to come a lot before but my perfectionism made me procrastinate. And in order to be vulnerable, I have written it all in one go. I know there are flaws, but for once, I want to let them be.