How To Overcome Perfectionism: Your Ultimate 9 Step Guide

In today’s article you’re going to learn everything you need to know about how to overcome perfectionism.

Perfectionism is not a bad thing. In fact, a person having this character often comes off as an asset in the company or even in the family.

However, too much of it is bad. One way or another, it will have a negative impact on your life if you refuse to change this.

You can tell if someone is a perfectionist if he automatically rejects something with even a speck of mistake.

For them, committing errors is a sin and anything short of standard is simply unacceptable to the highest degree. In pop culture, you are ‘OC’ to your peers if you are a perfectionist even if the condition is not necessarily clinical.

Dropping the suit does not make you incompetent.

You can still become an asset even if your outputs are not ‘perfect.’ Because you are living in a diverse world, anything can happen, especially mistakes.

As soon as you suspect that something is not going right, make an effort to address this immediately, especially if it concerns you.

Here are suggestions that will help you overcome perfectionism.

How To Overcome Perfectionism:

1. Determine your drive to perfection

What makes you a perfectionist in the first place?

As soon as you find out your motivations, you will be able to address or figure out if this is helping you. Reconcile them with your behavior and your goals in life.

Does your effort to be excellent serve you or the company better? How is your perfectionism helping you to become more productive? Does it make you productive at all?

As much as possible, keep everything you do under check, determine your goals, and know whether your perfectionism is helping or sabotaging you.

2. Stop being obsessed with small mistakes and trying to correct them

Always keep in mind that you cannot control everything around you.

Small mistakes do not automatically translate to failure. Think that you are racing to meet a common goal, not just your own.

Try to detach yourself a little from the situation or from something. Loosen up before you become neurotic, that if you are not yet such.

SEE ALSO: How To Improve Social Skills: 20 Tips To Be Confident Around People

3. Sometimes, perfectionism is not a healthy approach

People make mistakes and you are not an exemption. More than the things or situations you are working on, love and respect yourself. By doing this, you will realize your limitations.

4. Do not focus on the errors

Focus on the outcome, and recognize which tasks require more attention and which tasks do not.

Manage your time effectively at the same time. With a timetable that you should follow, your focus becomes meeting the deadline and not perfecting the details.

It does not mean you should be sloppy. Being precise still matters but you could be more productive if you would put emphasis on the dates more.

5. Enjoy what you do

If perfectionism runs in your blood, this may be hard to do but not as hard as you think.

It is neither nicotine nor morphine. You can extricate yourself anytime you want without any withdrawal symptoms.

If you have a positive outlook in life, delegate tasks, and let small lapses that don’t affect the whole output slip, you can retire to bed with less stress.

6. Every task finished calls for a celebration

Do celebrate occasionally, absorb the merrymaking, and repeat the cycle.

It is guaranteed to slowly turn you into a better perfectionist.

Some people though, still respond negatively and become the worse version of themselves, unless you are aware of the problem that comes with it when you morph into such.

7. Reward yourself

Spending time alone (1) and contemplating on the previous process would be the best relaxation time. Each part of it would show the negative and positive issues.

Let things reveal themselves to you.

Write down what you could have and have not done, what made you a neurotic perfectionist, and then show improvements the next time.

8. Enhance your positive side

Since perfectionism beyond normal is negative in nature, do things that will enhance your positive aura and positive approach to life as a whole.

Take yoga or work out regularly. Eat a healthy diet and be fit. Overall, improve your mind, body, and spirit.

SEE ALSO: This Is How To Overcome Anger: 10 Ways To Tame Your Temper

9. Get in touch with yourself and make sure you are in touch with yourself

Sometimes, people think that they are fully aware of what is happening in their lives or they can hear themselves clearly when they talk. This is not always the case.

Learn to listen to yourself (2), review your life every day, and improve your self-esteem.

Remember that perfectionism is a problem if it becomes self-sabotaging. Hopes and dreams can be achieved without being perfect. Pay attention to details but do not let them kill your character.

I want to thank you for taking the time to read my article about how to overcome perfectionism. I sincerely hope its contents have been a good help to you.

Przemkas Mosky
Przemkas Mosky started Perfect 24 Hours in 2017. He is a Personal Productivity Specialist, blogger and entrepreneur. He also works as a coach assisting people to increase their motivation, social skills or leadership abilities. Read more here