The Illusion of Perfectionism

If perfectionism had its way, this blog wouldn’t exist. “How so?” you may ask. Let’s talk.

Before starting this blog, I had an opportunity to be afraid of whether this would be successful. Thoughts were telling me:

• “You’ve never done this before. What if it fails?”
• “You’re already working two jobs (yes, I worked two jobs). Are you crazy?!”
• “Your writing skills are not good enough to do this. Who do you think you are? You’re going to look like a clown!”.

These words are the language of perfectionism. It talks to my mind daily, and I hate it with a burning passion! It’s so frustrating! Am I the only one? I’ve never started a blog until now, so of course, these thoughts would occupy my mind.

One thing you’ll need to know about me is I think deeply very often. I LOVE thinking. It’s my creative world. I feel like Elon Musk every time I wander around in my mind every day. However, a struggle people like me have is that we think and even talk about what we want to do, even articulately, but struggle to make it happen and turn our thoughts into reality. So we feel like hypocrites.

We feel like everything has to be perfect before we start something. That’s the illusion of perfectionism. It sucks, and it’s a killer. It’s greatly hindered much of my success, and I am still learning to fight it daily. I do get better each time, but I’m still not satisfied.

It wants to be fully “educated” on the subject before saying, “Okay, we’re ready now.”.

It literally stands still, not budging, and sits on the couch unless an audible voice from heaven says, “Thou canst start now, thus saith the Lord…” and a huge, shining hand pushes the Xbox power button and grabs us out of our couch to do something for the world.

I’ve struggled with this mentality my entire life, which still occasionally stresses me out. I wanted straight A’s in school as a kid and beat myself up whenever I didn’t get it. I condemn myself every time I make a little mistake, like being late to school, violently throwing my pillow at the wall out of frustration. I feel like I lose my boss’s trust whenever I don’t meet their expectations.

Am I the only one dealing with this my entire life? Someone talk to me! *cricket*. I get it. It’s very uncomfortable to admit, so I’ll speak for you.

You know, to be honest, I would not be surprised if everyone is dealing with this inner phenomenon whether they admit it or not. It’s from the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, leading to the constant striving to please God through works. Therefore, I believe this will continue to be a lifelong learning journey for everyone, regardless of personality, until the second coming of Jesus Christ.

This is not just a problem for deep thinkers like me; I believe feelers also deal with this in their own way! They sometimes feel too much and let their emotions get the best of them! Isn’t knowing that others are struggling with the same thing relieving? You’re welcome for telling you that you are not alone in this! It’s okay! We are all human beings in our big world who are growing to perfection. You know, there is something helpful about knowing and acknowledging that others are struggling with the same thing to the point that we can share experiences in transparency and work together by talking about what has helped us overcome perfectionism. So let me tell you what has helped me.

How I had to eliminate those fears was to face the fear itself, trust God, and just do it. Yup, that’s it! I had to tell myself, “You know what, it may be true that I’ve never done this before. This may fail. I may be crazy. My writing skills may not be good enough to do this blog.

“But what if I don’t fail and this ends up being successful? Even if I do fail, that’s how I learn! So I am in a win-win situation!”.

This is the reason why I started this blog. I want to learn. I want to grow. I want to help people around the world. With that considered, why not try and take it from there? You know, I never really know whether I will succeed unless I start somewhere, no matter how scary that may be.

I remember the story in the Bible about the twelve spies being sent by Moses into the Promised Land to scout it and report what they saw. Once they returned, all but two spies said they couldn’t get the Land because of the giants there. So let me put it simply for you, they struggled with perfectionism.

They wanted the perfect plan for success before they were convinced they could face the giants and take that Land. What was the root of this mentality? Fear and lack of trust in God. However, the remaining two spies didn’t give in to the illusion of perfectionism. They said, “Why not try?”. They didn’t give in to fear. They knew what God was capable of.

I believe they acknowledged the giants but did not let them hinder them from believing they could defeat them. Knowing their God and just doing it helped them face the fear. Don’t get me wrong, I think there is wisdom in making sure we have a plan before starting something big, but that should not be a reason to shy away from a God-given opportunity and not try something amazing!

So here’s an encouragement for you: You can do this.

You are the only one that can stop yourself from doing something you feel called to do. You are the only one that has the power to either make something happen or hide away because of fear. You call the shots. No one has the power to control your ability to make your own decisions that you strongly feel you are purposed to do in this world.

God gave you that powerful agent of free will to do anything you have the desire for! I get it, use wisdom first, but this is a powerful mentality you need to get a hold of! This imperfect, insecure, dark world does not want you to walk in this lifestyle because they are too insecure of the success God has imprinted into your DNA.

You are meant for greatness. You have been given the authority to discover and fulfill God’s purpose for your life. Don’t let anyone else convince you otherwise. You are amazing, capable, and worthy of this calling! You got this!