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Break Out of the Prison of Perfectionism

Do you strive for flawlessness in your art while setting excessively high standards for yourself?

Do you desire for your writing, art, business idea or performance to be perfect before you put it out to the world?

Do your critical self-evaluations and fears about what others will think stop you dead in your creative tracks and stuck in a no man’s land between your creative potential and discouragement?

It’s time to break out of prison.

Prison

Suzanne was desperate as she called my office. It had been many years since she had entered her prison of perfectionism and was desperate to see if I could help her break out.

An amazing French Horn player, Suzanne knew how to play all the correct notes and, although technically on the mark, was continually held back by her desire to perform perfectly while avoiding making a mistake.

In tears, she shared that she had tried almost everything in an attempt to break free, but nothing seemed to work.

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7 Steps to Self-Esteem & Confidence

Most of us carry pictures of those who matter to us in our wallet, purse or on our cellphone. I carry pictures of my wife and kids on my phone and iPad to look at and remind myself of how important they are to me.

As meaningful as these pictures are to us, we all carry another picture, one far more powerful than those in our wallet, etc. It is the mental picture that we carry that represents the opinion that we have of ourself.

Confidence Graphic

This picture is our self-image, a perception that has, from early on in life, influenced us in terms of our self-confidence, and in what we accomplish in our life, relationships and business.

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.”

Mark Twain
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Words That KILL

Here are 10 words that we tell ourselves that ‘kill’ our dreams, aspirations and potential. Each day, as you say any of these words to yourself, you get closer and closer to killing off who you are and might become.

Life is not about finding yourself…
Life is about Creating yourself.”

E.W. Wilcox
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Feelings Are SO Overrated (Part 2)

In my last Post I shared how we often put an enormous emphasis on our feelings, rather than focusing on whether our thoughts are self-defeating or moving us forward. Again, I am not saying that we should disregard our feelings (a la Mr. Spock in Star Trek whose main focus is summed up in the words “Seems logical to me, Captain”).

canstockphoto sad face

The key principle here is that if we do not take charge of what we tell ourselves, then our feelings will simply follow those thoughts, whether true or not.

“Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re right.” ~ Henry Ford

It might be a thought that begins innocently enough yet, when not challenged with the truth, takes you down a rabbit hole of self-doubt, discouragement and fear. I remember such as moment in high school.