Stop Trying To Be Perfect!

(Podcast at the bottom)

Perfectionism (something everyone faces in some way) gets in the way of your life without even realizing it! This is how I broke through it!

Your incredibly high standards will become a fault.

Last year, I made a commitment to my health and fitness. I said, "I'm gonna follow this 21-day nutrition program 100%!" A week later, I ordered a pizza (HA!). Insert perfectionism: I felt SO guilty about eating 1,400 calories that I immediately went to the gym and ran it all off. I was SO sore the next day and couldn't even move. So then I felt guilty for not working out.

Have you ever felt that vicious cycle of perfection to guilt to perfection to guilt? I've felt that way SO many times!

Have you ever made a to-do list and even on the rare days where you complete everything on the list, you STILL don't feel fulfilled?! You feel like there's "gotta" be something more that you forgot. So you get anxious.

If you make a sale, you wonder why it wasn't two.

If you make $1,000, you're angry it's not $10,000.

Nothing ever feels like enough.

The definition of perfection

Perfection: the state of being free from flaws or defects.

Guess what? Everyone's screwed up! Everyone's got shit. Including you. Including me. So by definition, it's impossible to be perfect.

When you're in a state of perfection, you're always focused on what's wrong instead of what's right. You always focus on how you could be better instead of focusing on what you did that was great.

You have extremely (unrealistic) high standards, and you feel guilty if you don't achieve your goals, right? Success never feels like enough.

You won't start, but you're depressed if you don't achieve. How does that make any sense?

The two types of perfection:

1.) You accomplish a lot, and you're utterly miserable while doing it.

2.) You never start anything because you don't know if you can do it correctly, so you're miserable and feel stuck.

Your life is a constant state of frustration when you live this way! It even ruins your relationships! It makes people feel judged like all of their efforts are never enough.

A much clearer definition of perfection: Fear.

...Fear of the consequence of not doing something 100% correctly.

But think about this: Will you die if things don't go according to plan? No, you'll be fine! In fact, in a world where 100% of every business, family, sales meeting, etc. is conditional on OTHER people's actions, what's the likelihood that life will go 100% perfectly in line with your expectations every single day? 0%

You're setting yourself up for failure when you live this way.

How to set up the game of life so you can win:

1.) Switch to the positive.

Instead of focusing on what's wrong, focus on what's right. Instead of focusing on what you DIDN'T get done, focus on what you DID get done. This is how you can become fulfilled by your to-do list! Ask yourself what you DID achieve!

What's wrong is always available to you. So is what's right. If you're always living in fear of not being perfect, you're gonna focus on what's wrong. You'll become a miserable person. You'll still feel empty.

2.) Change your perspective of failure.

Learn how to celebrate failure instead of wishing you never fail. When you do that, every time you fail, you'll learn something instead of hating something.

When you learn something from each failure, you start to learn the lessons that will actually bring you closer to your goal instead of hate failure (which pushes your goal further away).

3.) Remove the "All or nothing" mindset.

That girl does NOT need to be perfect to date her. You don't need a guarantee you'll earn a certain amount of money before you say yes. An "all or nothing" mindset will either stop you from taking action before you start OR it's going to make you a miserable person as you achieve.

So, change your standards! Instead of expecting perfection out of yourself, expect outstanding out of yourself. It's definitely a great thing to have high standards! It's not a great thing to have perfect standards.

"Perfection is the lowest possible standard you can have for yourself because it's impossible." - Tony Robbins

Have exceptional standards, AND be okay if you mess up once or twice! Your big goals will never go 100% according to plan! If you shoot for the moon and come up short, it's okay! Last time I checked, Apollo 13 was still a success!

When you let go of the "all or nothing" mindset, you start to go after goals for the growth and the person you'll become. This makes your goals happen SO much faster! If it's all or nothing, you miss the lessons life is trying to teach you in the most critical moments!

So instead of using your goals as a "must," you use your goals as a guide! When I made that shift, I finally felt at peace with goal setting. Life is SO much easier that way! You'll be so much happier.

Give up perfection. It's one of the best things you can do for your life! If you don't, you'll always be chasing a ghost. You'll still feel miserable. You'll always feel like your work is never enough OR you'll never start.

The last 6-12 months, I've made these changes. And in the last 6-12 months, I've achieved more than I have in my entire life. It's because I let go of perfection!

If YOU have a hard time letting go of perfection, make sure you take my FREE training, "The Path To Mindset Mastery!" It will help you live in a state of peace, release the death grip you have on success, love failure, crush fear, and change your mindset from focusing on what's wrong to concentrate on what's right. It's an excellent training!

Check out The Path To Mindset Mastery if you were moved by this post today!

With love,

Brad Bizjack