I feel like I am being bombarded with messages on perfectionism, and not taking action vs. just doing it! Today I was drawn to share a couple of such messages via social media.
Now when I say I am being bombarded with these messages, of course they are the messages that I am noticing. I have messages flashing across my screen in my TweetDeck all day and coincidentally I seem to look up when there is one on perfectionism or taking action.
I have been giving it quite a bit of thought and asking myself questions like:
Is perfectionism a form of fear?
Is it is feeling of not being good enough?
Is it not being able to get it right?
I watched this short message today from my friend Bryn you can see here how she shares a personal triumph of hers learning how to overcome fear of imperfection to get into action! http://bit.ly/dtnfAL
She talks about not doing something she thought she could not do. That really made me think where I did the same. I used to believe (well still do really) that I have no eye/ ball coordination for ball sports. So I used to make myself physically sick when we had our corporate tennis day. Powerful manifestation – in reverse!
I think for me sometimes I do not just jump in and do things because I fear messing it up or I tell myself I cannot do it. Yes, the more I think about my own behavior I think that my perfectionism is fear based.
I have come a long way with overcoming some of the things I told myself I could not do. I could not use a computer 15 years ago and then for the next 10 years could not do much more than email.
Hey and now I have built this blog! It still bothers me that there are things on it that are not perfect but I can override those thoughts. We all have choices.
Let me know where you stop yourself from taking action. What do you tell yourself you cannot do or are no good at? Do you have strategies to overcome your resistance?
Adam Robinson says
As for me, I really don’t focus too much on the things I cannot do. It’s impossible to know everything and to be able to do everything. I simply try to invest in myself constantly so that my ‘circle of competence’ increases. I try to stay in that circle as much as possible.
Sue says
Adam thanks for all you comments I really do appreciate them.
I used to be a perfectionist but am fast coming to the same mindset as you state here. I know my strengths and focus on improving them and learning new things I enjoy.
Sue