Perfectionism in Life

It’s important to practice letting go of perfectionism in life.

Life is a big task.

It is a summation of a smaller infinite number of tasks.

And these smaller tasks are to be done with an accepted minimum quality of work.

Some people pick and choose which tasks to do and with what level of quality.

However, many people are not able to do this filtering and creation of positive boundaries.

These are the people who are caught up in perfectionism.

They try to do things in a “perfect way” that satisfies their minds and their way of functioning.

Perfectionism gives a lot of stress and pain to a person and it also slows down their speed of functioning below normal.

Perfectionism also comes with the risk of not achieving much out of the whole process.

It’s because perfectionism for one may not be perfectionism or high quality for others.

Thus, in the end, all the hard work and stress may not give any significant results.

So, it’s better to let go of perfectionism and do things in a balanced and soothing way.

Letting Go Of Perfectionism

Let’s find out how letting go of perfectionism can be made possible in our lives.

Learn To Relax

The first thing you need to do in letting go of perfectionism is to relax.

The root cause of perfectionism is anxiety.

It’s a fear that you or your efforts may not be enough.

People who have anxiety but also have the attitude of not giving up, become “perfectionists”.

And this attitude of not giving up changes their anxiety into constant stress within them.

Thus, the most natural way of letting go of perfectionism is to remove the anxiety within.

So, you should now try to relax and not give in to the temptation of doing things “perfectly”.

Tell yourself that perfectionism doesn’t exist and even if it does, it’s harmful for your mind & body.

This positive affirmation concerning perfectionism will help you let go of it naturally over time.

Give Up Rigidity In Extremism

The next thing you need to do in letting go of perfectionism is to give up your rigidity in extremism.

Perfectionism is an extreme concept.

It needs you to keep pushing yourself until you reach the limits of your patience and efforts.

But the reason why one is not able to give up perfectionism is because they are stuck in it.

They feel an irresistible urge to do things perfectly.

Anything less than perfection will feel like a failure.

So, if you are doing something, you have to do it perfectly.

This is rigidity in extremism associated with perfectionism which needs to be given up.

 It needs you to practice mental flexibility.

You first need to realize that perfectionism is not the only option you have while doing any task.

You can do anything with the highest possible quality even by putting in less effort.

So, you have to be more simple and not more intense.

Simplicity in tasks is far more effective and it is also easy on your mind and body.

This realization will make you flexible and hence capable of coming out of the mirage of perfectionism.

Embrace Imperfection

The next thing you need to do in letting go of perfectionism is to embrace imperfection in life.

Perfectionists always fear imperfection.

If they are not able to do tasks “perfectly”, they get frustrated and disappointed with themselves.

They forget that they are human beings and not God.

We don’t need to do perfect things, we need to do them wisely and use our natural intelligence even if it feels imperfect.

This imperfection is what makes us human and our acceptance of this imperfection is what brings success.

Imperfection works great because it lets us do things with freedom which is the foundation of success.

On the other hand, perfection neither gives you happiness nor success because it is completely devoid of freedom.

So, you should give up the urge to become perfect and embrace imperfection in life.

Give Up External Perfectionism

The next thing you need to do in letting go of perfectionism is to give up multitasking or external perfectionism.

Multitasking is the result of perfectionism.

Perfectionists see an infinite number of tasks wherever they look and they are committed to completing all of them.

This is called external perfectionism which means the need to complete every task that comes to your attention.

Perfectionists react to these infinite number of tasks by becoming multitaskers.

They start doing many things at once to complete all the tasks they have taken upon themselves.

But the more tasks they complete, the more tasks they get which keeps them in an endless cycle of tasks and hence perfectionism.

The only way out of this external perfectionism is to filter out unimportant tasks.

Once you have filtered out unimportant tasks, you can focus on important tasks and on completing them.

This lets you come out of the endless cycle of tasks and hence external perfectionism.

Give Up Internal Perfectionism

The next thing you need to do in letting go of perfectionism is to give up internal perfectionism.

External perfectionism was the irresistible urge to complete “all” external tasks around you.

Similarly, internal perfectionism is completing all the sub-tasks or steps within a single task.

Here, a perfectionist sees a large number of steps within a given task and tries to complete all of them.

This makes the job hard and difficult to accomplish.

Thus, just like in the case of external perfectionism, the perfectionist needs to filter out the less important steps.

He can also carry out the steps in a pecking order or based on priority.

This will free him of perfectionism and let him complete the tasks easily and much faster.

Set Balanced Quality Standards

The next thing you need to do in letting go of perfectionism is to set proper quality standards for your tasks.

Perfectionists habitually go after the highest possible quality while doing a particular task.

This highest quality is neither defined nor clear to perfectionists themselves.

It’s just a vague feeling that may or may not be achieved while doing a task.

And in the pursuit of this level of quality, they have to go through a lot of stress and struggle.

Thus, it’s important to define an optimum level of quality of tasks that is not based on perfectionism.

This can be done by a simple rule of thumb.

If you go for the highest quality of a task, it doesn’t have an end.

So, the rule of thumb is to settle for a quality level that is reached with minimum discomfort and isn’t bad.

We cannot set an upper limit to the quality of a task but we can always set its lower limit.

This is the level of quality that we should settle for.

It is also the quality level that has the potential to bring you success in a given task which is all we want.

When you have found the optimal quality level for your tasks, you have finally mastered the art of letting go of perfectionism.

Get Rid Of Your Weaknesses

Letting go of perfectionism needs you to give up your weaknesses.

Perfectionism is the outcome of fear, imbalance, and lack of clarity.

Thus, you have to find a solution to them to let go of perfectionism.

So, relax, become balanced, and let natural intelligence take over your life.

It will help you live your life without struggling with it in the form of perfectionism.

Perfectionism is a myth that people adopt to cover up for their weaknesses. 

If you are free of all these weaknesses, life will become simple and you will no longer need perfection.

And letting go of perfectionism will also help you appreciate yourself more and feel the self-love within. 

So, help yourself in letting go of perfectionism so that you start loving yourself unconditionally.