Do you set high standards for yourself? Have you ever found yourself mentally
bogged down and unable to move forward? If this sounds like you, it could be
you suffer with trying to be too perfect in an imperfect world. Don't worry, I
am about to remind you of the solution.
What is the solution?
Nike have known this for ages and made millions using the slogan as their main
brand tagline: JUST DO IT! (AKA STOP TRYING TO BE PERFECT!)
If you write you will know that you can easily get caught up in wanting an article or book to be perfect before you let others see it. Of course, to some extent you should try and proof read your work before sending it out, that is okay. I am talking about someone not wanting to publish something they have been sitting on for days, weeks, possibly years. They keep editing hoping that by the time they are finished everyone in the world is going to be leaving comments how wonderful the writing is. This is never going to happen. You will always get haters who comment on your work. The key is to not be writing for them, the key is to write for those who know that you might make mistakes but who love to read what you are putting out. So next time your finger moves away from the publish button just go back and click it! Get your writing out there as soon as you can, keep writing and publishing, you will find you naturally improve anyway and soon you will hardly have to proof read before publishing anyway.
This logic applies to many things. If you are not a writer then perhaps you are always trying to diet? Just like the writer hovering over the publish button, do you find yourself hovering over decisions to give up sugar or do exercise? Stop hovering, just do it! Stop the fatty foods, start exercising and feel joyous that you have started your journey. Every single day you just get on and do the obvious things, it forms a habit, eventually you will find you do all of the things that make you slim automatically without effort. The biggest mountain to climb on your diet journey is going to be that look in the mirror. This is where the being "perfect" issue arises. I bet you criticize your progress. You probably look at your belly and think, what is the point, I have hardly lost anything. STOP! You are trying to be too perfect. You will never look like someone else, especially a photoshopped model with an 8 pack! Give yourself a break and realise the reality is that everyone is imperfectly perfect in their body shape. So stop trying to be perfect.
If you can stop trying to be perfect you will very quickly feel a change in
your life and mental wellbeing.
Let me give you an example in my life where I did this and what happened.
This blog! I was finding myself overthinking every post. I had read loads of
articles on how to write the perfect blog post to drive more traffic to my
website. I became obsessed with what to write and how to write it. So much so
I would have un-published posts sitting doing nothing. In the end I thought,
what is the worst that can happen if I publish them and someone gives me a bad
comment? Even getting a comment would be good, it means someone has spent the
time reading my work and has bothered to comment. Nothing was stopping me
from improving the posts after they have been published. So I have learnt to
just write my heart out and click publish. It has ramped up my blog post
productivity and the traffic has increased by hundreds of people a week. Plus, I feel better for not trying to always write the perfect
post.
I realise you are likely to know many of the things I write, but if you are
also like me, I find I need reminding occasionally so I can get back on track.
I hope this post has jogged your memory and will help you to just do it -
whatever you are doing!
Take care today.
Author: Christian Jacques Bennett*
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Search Terms: Perfect, Mindset, Mental Health, Perfectionism, High Standards, Just Do It, Progress, Succeed, Success, Writing, Author, Weight, Diet.
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