Saturday, January 16, 2010

Is Your Strive for Perfection Choking You?

By Allison Maslan

Are you living your life to the fullest at this moment in time? Do you have the life that you have always dreamed of? If so, congratulations! Meditate a few moments each day on the goodness that you have experienced from your great fortune. If your answer is no, it is never too late to start. So many people don't reach their goals because they want everything perfect before they move forward.

They are striving for perfection and it is killing them. They want a perfectly clean house, to say the perfect words, and to do perfect work at all times. What is the point of "perfect" anyway? Pressure filled expectations are a sure way to turn any goal into a ball and chain. Many people resist attempting new challenges or setting new goals because they are afraid they will not perform to their ridiculous level of expectation.

As a result, they give up before they ever begin. Then, the feelings of disappointment and failure set in. I started taking modern dance in my 30s. The room was full of young women and men that had been dancing since childhood. My mind was aghast as the dance instructor got in front of the class and proceeded to dance several eloquent steps that we were supposed to immediately mirror. I knew I was in trouble as the class was spinning one way and I was tripping the other way (Picture I Love Lucy and the Rockettes).

Through this experience, I learned to laugh at myself and let go of the notion of doing it perfectly. It was not possible for me to keep up with these experts; and attempting to do so was way too much pressure. Once the light bulb came on that I could do something for the fun of it, I relaxed about the outcome. And wouldn't you know it, I was able to perform in several dance presentations and I had a blast.

If you are not putting yourself out there, reaching toward what you really want because you are afraid of not being perfect, you are missing out on the juiciness of your life. It is the non-perfect part that will be most memorable and uniquely you.
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Allison Maslan, HHP, CCH is a homeopathic physician and the author of Blast Off! The Surefire Success Plan To Launch Your Dreams Into Reality. As a life and business coach, she helps people create a new business and the best chapter of their lives.

The exciting launch of her book, Blast Off! The Surefire Success Plan To Launch Your Dreams Into Reality is coming Tuesday, January 19. To find out how you can buy the book and receive more than 20 beautiful mind-body-spirit gifts during the launch, go to www.myblastoff.com/booklaunch.



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2 comments:

Unknown said...

L. Diane Wolfe has left a new comment on your post "Is Your Strive for Perfection Choking You?":

LOL! Oh no, I gave up the perfectionism a long time ago.
The melancholy half of my personality wants it but has finally realized there are areas where it just isn't that important. Pardon my French, but I have learned to half-ass a job when I need to! (Mostly when it comes to my house and such. Being able to eat off the floors is NOT that important.)

Glenda Council Beall said...

Looking back over my life, I see that my need for perfection held me back in my writing most of my life.
I still fight that striving, but I'm doing so much better and enjoying life more.