Do you consider yourself a perfectionist?
Do you often feel like you’re “not doing enough” or “not doing it right?”
If so, I hear ya sister. I write about this because I know it intimately.
I actually used to think that being a perfectionist was a positive characteristic.
But let me tell you, perfectionism and weight loss don’t mix!
Why is that?
Because perfectionism is rigid, it’s critical, it’s robotic, and most of all it’s IMPOSSIBLE!
Perfect isn’t real, it isn’t human. Striving for perfection will ALWAYS lead you to feel defeated. You’ll never be able to live up to your expectations, and will end up feeling awful.
It’s very hard to find the motivation to do hard things (like stay on your plan and lose weight) when you’re feeling defeated and down about yourself.
While you’re in the process of losing weight, you want to stay empowered and in a growth/learning mindset. Being a perfectionist doesn’t allow for that.
So if you want to lose weight, I encourage you to let go of perfectionism!
Here’s how I recommend you go about doing that….
- Commit to doing B- work!
If nothing else, I hope that you take this one concept away from here. I learned it from my mentor, Brooke Castillo, and let me tell you it’s been life-changing. What I mean by doing B- work, is that it’s so much better to show up consistently doing things B-, than showing up once in a while at A+. How can you show up more consistently by committing to B-? How can you let go of perfect and just DO? I guarantee you’ll start seeing results so much faster than waiting around for “perfection.”
- Get interested in your mistakes!
How can you get curious about your mess ups? Beating yourself up over them won’t do a darn thing. The thing is, our brain is wired to do things using patterned responses, so over half the time we’re not even aware of our mess-ups until after the fact. That’s why it’s important to get curious about them. It’s the only way to start becoming aware before it’s over with. So next time you mess up, go off your plan or don’t follow through, untangle it. Figure out what you were thinking right before it happened. Ask yourself how you were feeling when it occurred. This is really the secret to your success with weight loss!
- STOP being hard on yourself.
This truly is a choice, and a choice worth making! We sometimes think that criticizing ourselves is motivating, but the opposite is true. Think about the last time you were hard on yourself. How did it make you feel? Probably some kind of negative emotion. Do negative emotions empower us to take action, to overcome obstacles, to keep going? NEVER! So self-criticism will not motivate you to lose weight in a way that you’ll be able to maintain for good. If you notice yourself in this pattern, pause, acknowledge it and move on with compassion.
When it comes down to it, letting go of perfectionism allows you to be more curious, patient, and loving with yourself… all characteristics that are necessary for permanent weight loss.
Are you open to letting perfectionism go and allowing humanity?? I can’t recommend it enough!
In health & happiness,
Jamie
