I hope you are having a fantastic week. Helpful thoughts for you on perfectionism for you today. You are welcome!
It’s been a busy week at Thompson Towers. We kicked off Align 3 – which is my Law Of Attraction Coaching Mastermind Programme. We had our welcome seminar this week, and I have to say the reaction to the new content was off the hook. We are going to have an incredible 6 months together. If upleveling your SKILL (and it IS a learnable SKILL as opposed to actual magic) on The Law Of Attraction is on your radar.
In the Wellbeing Warriors Coaching Academy, it’s been a big week as well as we have kicked off a brand new 30-Day module called Perfection Reflection where we are implementing tools to reduce this very common area of anxiety and less than optimal mental health. I know MANY of you Self-Care Sunday readers will be long-time perfectionists and could do with some assistance in that area yourself, so here is a helpful principle to consider on perfectionism today:
Do you tend to think and act in extremes. E.g. “I had two biscuits…I might as well have the whole damn packet now!” That’s sneaky ole perfectionism at work.
Here are a few more signs of perfectionism:
Being hard on yourself?
Fear of disapproval?
Fixating on things that have gone wrong?
Running what you coulda shoulda said over in your mind for days
Avoiding situations when you are not sure of success?
A few boxes ticked I am sure. All such common patterns.
Perfectionism is pervasive and sneaks into so many aspects of our mental health… BUT… did you know, comes in THREE common “flavours”: we all have a blend, or a dominance for one or another. See which of the 3 is your most dominant:
The three types of perfectionism are:
- “Self-oriented” where we demand perfection from ourselves
- “Other-oriented” where we demand perfection from others around us like spouses, family, co-workers or friends
- “Socially prescribed” perfectionism, where we feel external pressure from the larger world and society to be perfect
Fascinating, yes? All three flavours have different downsides of course, with different tools to tackle them.
Which one is your most dominant flavour of perfectionism? I will say I have thought patterns that reflect all three, but the most dominant for me would be 1. I have this habitual irrational fear of letting people down, which means I drive myself too hard and consistently over-deliver! Working through the tools in this month’s module Perfection Reflection is as valuable for me as it is for all the Wellbeing Warriors – we are all a work in progress! There is always another level of personal growth to be had.
Have a great day, whatever it may hold!
