Progress – not perfectionIST (guest post).

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Carla recently sent out a guest post request for the topic ‘Progress, not perfection.’

I jumped at the opportunity to guest post for her for a couple reasons.

  • One, because I love reading words from this wise mizfit, and it’s an honor to contribute to her blog.
  • Two, because it has been somewhat of a mantra for me.

Perfectionism is a personal struggle. A struggle I’ve become better at taming.

Some of my perfectionist faults are material.

We recently bought a new house, and I want the house to be ‘perfect’ now.

I want to buy ALL the things to make my house look like one of those in Better Homes and Gardens. I’m not all about designer things, but I do admit, I love to shop. But if I let the perfectionist win, we’d skip all the progress and go bankrupt.

My wants for material perfection have driven me to financial crises before, and luckily I’ve learned my lesson.

Besides, I am progressing towards a more ‘minimalist’ way of living. At least… I am trying. Evaluating wants versus needs. We will see how well my husband agrees with this one. He will agree with my extreme progress in other financial areas. But we’ll talk about the debt snowball some other time.

Seeing and acknowledging progress through my perfectionist eyes isn’t always easy.

I have struggled with perfection in my physical appearance before, and while I vow to never go back to ‘that place,’ (and I have not) I can’t help but have days where I don’t see progress, only imperfection.

This is when confidence kicks back in to remind myself how strong I am now.

How much HEALTHIER I am now. That I do my best to make healthy choices.

I may not be the perfection ‘vision’ of health, but I am a pretty good vision of balance.

And I’m HAPPIER now.

Happy and healthy are what count the most.

wedding 2

Perfection is deeply rooted in my career goals.

I am often driven by perfection in my work, and put my all into everything I do. Needless to say, when I don’t get a perfect outcome, I’m disappointed.

I finished graduate school with a PhD dissertation I’m quite proud of. But I couldn’t land the job I wanted.

Or, really, many interviews at all. That’s not to say I’m not 100% grateful for the opportunity I have, which will eventually get me where I want to be. But I am a perfectionist who wants results now, not later.

Never mind that I didn’t have to interview for this position – it was offered to me.

graduation

So, why focus on the ‘negative’ imperfections?

I’ve been doing much better at focusing on the positive.

Thankful I have great opportunities.
Thankful I am healthy.
Incredibly happy with the life I am living.
Knowing that each step forward I take is still progress.

There is no secret door to perfection, it’s all one big work in progress.

Once you realize that, you see less imperfections. You might even enjoy yourself a little bit more along the way!

  • Do you struggle with a perfectionism?

 

 

Alysia lives in Dallas, TX. She blogs at Slim Sanity, and dedicates her personal and professional research goals toward living healthy, and enabling others do the same. You can follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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Comments

  3. I have a hard time with the vision of perfect health.
    I know I am fit but to an outside eye I don’t look that way, yet.

  4. Ooooh what a great combo of bloggers for this post. I love this Alysia, and so perfect for Carlas blog (or should I say so progressive? :P). I struggle with this too, especially in my running, and it is hard not to in this manicured world we live in where everything is about first impressions, and society wants us to only show the good. Keep moving forward (also my favorite quote), and you will reach some (even more) good things!

    • I have a hard time some days finding gratitude for what I have when I pressure myself to be more.

  7. Perfection is not a word that can be applied to people as it means “without flaws”- guess you can strive for it if you are a diamond!
    I DO however put 100% of myself into whatever it is that I am committed to at the time.
    I am fully present and focused at work. If I commit to a race, I don’t train half assed. If I am giving a presentation I make sure it’s interactive and fun. If I am having lunch with my husband/daughter I am fully present and ask about THEIR day/lives. If I SAY I am going o do something, I follow through and give it my all.
    In the house dept.-We too just bought a “new” (old) one that “needs” my touches…but money is tight so things have to wait. I am ok with that…

  8. I, too, can so relate to your thoughts and your struggles with wanting perfection. It is so easy (for me) to fall into the trap of “well, if it isn’t going to be perfect, why try at all?” Dangerous. The mantra for today is now “progress, not perfection.” Thanks for the great post!

  9. For me perfection call a little easy on in life, I would get amazing grades and always be the child that my parents were proud of. I made all the ‘right’ decisions, so that people often even told me I was so perfect. I got used to hearing that, when real challenges came my way later on in life I struggled with failure and setbacks. But those failures are what taught me that, life is anything but a straight line and something that you don’t think you need, can lead to other things you never thought you wanted.

  11. Thanks for sharing Asysia’s post. I think most of us in the fitness world suffer from wanting to be perfect or pleasing some person or some sort of persona at some point. I appreciate that age helps us all see things in a more real way. Always a work in progress . . . .

  12. Perfect is the enemy of great. Embrace this mantra and watch your personal productivity and happiness skyrocket!

  13. Love the post. I also struggle with trying to be perfect all the time. Maybe I too can focus on just being happy and healthy. That’s more than enough for me šŸ™‚

    -V

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