Are you struggling with Perfectionism?

Writer’s Block. This term is what I got to know about almost a year ago. There are a lot of reasons for every writer to get into this phase.

But for me, I went into this block, not in terms of writing but almost in everything like content creation, speaking in front of the camera, making my own brand, and working for my own marketing agency.

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.”

Mark Twain

The time is 1 o clock in the morning when I am writing this blog. I have a lot of research work to do in terms of my study and the event of my university coming up on the same day (means today at 11 o clock).

 I have to prepare myself as a host, more in detail, an informal host who has to make the audience interact in such a way that people can feel at home with the hierarchy of the society or club I am part of). 

What I am doing?

I don’t know what I am writing right now it’s just my thoughts coming up and I am typing the keys of the laptop which are showing me some text is being written on my screen. 

For the past few months, I couldn’t write and do any task properly because I was chasing perfectionism, at least this is what my mind is telling me now.

And today, somehow I realized there is nothing like the perfectionism kind of thing that exists in the world. Well, it is the result of what my mentor advised me the other day about accepting myself as it is, with all my good qualities and deficiencies. 

“We can choose to be perfect and admired or to be real and loved.”

Glennon Doyle Melton

I read this quote and I am gonna hit for being realistic and logical towards the paths I walk on. Let’s see whether I would be loved as said by Glennon Doyle Melton. 

If you are also facing the same things like looking out for perfectionism and facing a block in life when you try to do something, you need to look at yourself seriously.

Signs of Perfectionism:

Here are the signs that you are a perfectionist:

• You set standards for yourself and always beat yourself up after not meeting those standards
• You set up unrealistic expectations from yourself and the people around you
• You will feel immense stress and pressure on your nerves all the time
• Fear of failure and fear of judgment always lead you toward perfectionism

How to overcome perfectionism/block?

1. Allow yourself to make mistakes:

You need to understand that you can only learn if you’ll make mistakes. This is the pattern to grow, build yourself, and learning process. The early you make mistakes the better. Because if you start making mistakes earlier in life it would be better for your life and career. Mistakes give you the space to learn, grow and become a flexible person.

“If you have the guts to keep making mistakes, your wisdom and intelligence leap forward with huge momentum.”

 Holly Near

2. Don’t pressure yourself:

Always remember you are the one who has control over yourself. You can make yourself pressured by overthinking or you can make yourself relaxed by allowing yourself to do mistakes and releasing the stress from your mind. You are the one who will be leading your brain and heart in a light way.

“The truth is that stress doesn’t come from your boss, your kids, your spouse, traffic jams, health challenges, or other circumstances. It comes from your thoughts about your circumstances.”

―Andrew Bernstein

3. Remove toxicity:

Have you ever noticed why you are so perfectionist? Well, in my opinion, it might be your social circle that is putting so much pressure on you knowingly and unknowingly. Let me tell you one thing you are not making the move in your life because you fear their judgment. Just cut out these people from your life and focus on what you want to achieve in life.

“People inspire you, or they drain you. Pick them wisely.”

– Hans F. Hasen

4. Do not procrastinate:

I am the one who procrastinates things to the last minute. So, I can best understand why we all do this. Well, because we want the best piece of everything out there. Sometimes it’s good because we formulate the process in our minds. But the longer you think about one thing the longer you delay the project, draft, or whatever task you are assigned to do. Just start to do it. You can make a rough outline of your work in order to get an idea of what you are going to do.

“Begin while others are procrastinating. Work while others are wishing.”

 – William Arthur Ward

5. Receive Constructive Criticism:

If you are a perfectionist, I bet you have the habit of taking criticism personally. Am I right? Criticism is what we get in return for our action, or in other words feedback. It can be constructive or destructive. Try to find a mentor who is unbiased and has the tendency to show you the mirror in a good way. That’s how you’ll learn the right way and will be able to perform the action instead of thinking about it and making things perfect.

“I do not take constructive criticism from people who have never constructed anything.”

― Eric Thomas

Conclusion:

In addition to the above-mentioned methods, I Have other tips as well which I do practice on a daily basis: I pray to Allah (God) for whatever he has bestowed me with (Gratitude), I listen to calming and sometimes motivating music in order to get myself at work immediately without thinking anything and thirdly I do walk on almost daily or the alternate days to make my body and mind fresh. Let’s leave this perfectionism and working blocks aside, and dive into the work the moment we think to do it.