Today’s motivational podcast episode from Confidence on the Go shares my five step action plan for living past perfectionism in your life. Be the best you possible by letting go of the invisible finish line that keeps moving and instead by focusing your energies on being who you are meant to be.

• Perfectionism only leads to pain.
• Type-A-itis can stunt your ability to actually live life to the fullest
• Action plan to ignite change in the way you think and live

Episode #21 Notes:

Quotes to ponder:

“90 percent perfect and shared with the world always changes more lives than 100 percent perfect and stuck in your head.”
― Jon Acuff, Quitter: Closing the Gap Between Your Day Job and Your Dream Job 

“Perfectionism is not a prerequisite for anything but pain.”
― Danna Faulds

“Understanding the difference between healthy striving and perfectionism is critical to laying down the shield and picking up your life. Research shows that perfectionism hampers success. In fact, it’s often the path to depression, anxiety, addiction, and life paralysis.”
― Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are 

“Perfectionism is a shield that we carry with a thought process that says this, ‘If I look perfect, live perfect, work perfect, and do it all perfectly, I can avoid or minimize feeling shame, blame, and judgment.”
― Brené Brown

“You know, the whole thing about perfectionism. The perfectionism is very dangerous. Because of course if your fidelity to perfectionism is too high, you never do anything. Because doing anything results in…it’s actually kind of tragic because you sacrifice how gorgeous and perfect it is in your head for what it really is. And there were a couple of years where I really struggled with that.”
― David Foster Wallace

Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won’t have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren’t even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they’re doing it.”
― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Questions for you:

• Do you want to help people or impress people?
• If the person who loves you tells you that your body is beautiful, why do you reject their truth and strive for some crafted idea of “perfection” that you have decided you must achieve?
• What are you really trying to prove anyways and to whom?
• What would happen if you gave yourself permission to just be?  To not “earn” love, admiration, or respect through your achievement of “having it all together”?

Action Steps:

1. Admit you’re a perfectionist / type-A and that is sometimes good and sometimes bad

2. Acknowledge which areas of your life being type-A helps you and is a good thing

3. Identify the areas which your perfectionism stunts or inhibits your life / becomes your own worse enemy

4. Ask yourself what you really care most about in your heart of hearts. Write that thing down and use it to realign everything you do when you fall into type-a-itis patterns.

5. Grant yourself permission to make mistakes and to be loved simply for being you. 

References:

 THE GIVEAWAY MENTIONED ON THE SHOW:

I am giving away one of my own running plan for anyone wanting to run a 5k, 10K, or marathon.  I even have another option for my non-runners out there: a WALKING half marathon plan.   Each plan typically sells for $50, so this is a steal of a deal! All you have to do is write a review on Amazon for one of my books or in iTunes for my show or app. 

You can select one program per review that you write for the following options:

(1). Review The Skinny, Sexy Mind: The Ultimate French Secret on Amazon.com

(2). Review my ebook Building a Better Body Image: 50 Days to Loving Yourself from the Inside Out on Amazon.com 

(3). Review my podcast show Confidence on the Go in iTunes under podcasts

(4). Review one of my iOS apps in iTunes

So, just write a review (and this is on the honor system) and then let me know which running training program you’d like in return.  If you’d like more than one program (which I recommend since they’re not always going to be free!), then simply pick another product to review!

Pretty simple! Now there’s no excuse not to have a consistent workout plan! Just do it.

Below are more ways to connect with me, check them out, post a comment below or email me for more info at trish@trishblackwell.com!

• Trish on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/trishblackwellfitness
• Trish’s “mastermind” INSIDER Group: http://www.trishblackwell.com/register
• Get coaching from Trish:  http://www.trishblackwell.com/confidencecoaching
• Trish’s Apps:  http://www.trishblackwell.com/trish-shop
• Recommendations: http://www.trishblackwell.com/recommendations