Looking For Perfection Is Just Inviting Anxiety

Looking for perfection is the stupidest thing to do.

Okay, let’s not call it stupid, but then, is it really a smart thing?

In our search for perfection, we miss the bigger picture because we are stuck overthinking about small points.

That small point can be highly irritating for us.

Hence, we are just stuck there and can’t think further.

Quite often, we leave whatever project or action we are doing in the middle, restart it, or completely end it because it is not passing our eligibility test called “Perfectionism.”

It destroys our concentration and ability to proceed, leaving us with anxiety, annoyance, and loose screws. That is basically the case in our modern era because it is missing a certain vibe.

I completely encourage looking for better ways, but at the same time, I won’t suggest stopping in one place in search of them.

That is losing sight of the bigger picture.

What exactly is this “bigger picture” I am talking about?

Well, it means “end result.”

Is it fine to have a result without being perfect?

Ask yourself: Is it okay to have nothing at all?

There is your answer.

Yes, it is okay to have a result, a certain project, or whatever you want to call it without perfectionism.

Because in the end you have something to show while in search of perfection, you don’t really have an end to show, or you do have something to show but then you realize how much time you wasted on such small points.

This perfectionism frightened me quite badly in real life because I wanted to do things perfectly. And guess what happened? In the end, I lost several opportunities.

Going back to my past, I loved playing certain sports and was trying to become a professional athlete. I won’t tell you which one for now, but yeah, I wanted to be a professional athlete. So, I practiced quite hard, lived a disciplined life, and did everything possible. Although I wanted to train like Cristiano Ronaldo (in case you don’t know who he is, he is a footballer and happens to be the best one; some might disagree, but well, we have our own opinions) and follow similar footsteps, I did follow whatever I could, but there was a huge problem with me, and that was perfectionism.

I wanted to be perfect, doing everything perfectly, and guess what happened? I fell in love with my game and, in the end, left it because I didn’t have any love left for it.

That looking for perfection made me fall out of love, while the most important part of any process is being in love with the process. You might have heard this line several times.

“Be in love with the process of doing.”

No?

Well, if not, then you can see it now. I’m glad to bring something new into your life, even if it isn’t too big of a thing.

Looking for perfection killed the love of the process. I overthought, overanalyzed, and filled myself with unnecessary anxiety.

It could have been avoided, but I lacked basic common sense or just a clear idea to not doubt myself.

This looking for perfection not only came in my sports life but it was visible during school days and many other places, hence that led to losing all those opportunities.

Do I regret it?

Yeah, but I have moved on.

I started focusing on the bigger picture instead of perfection. Of course, it is still a learning process, but I’m getting better with time.

Thinking more about the bigger picture would have been a great thing for my athletic self.

Look for better, but don’t lose sight of the bigger picture. What you want to do might be less, but isn’t it better than having something instead of basically nothing?

We all have self-doubt and fear, which leads to anxiety, causing our brains to return an Error 404 or a cloudy situation where you just question your ability and wonder if it is enough; should I try to do more?

How should I improve this specific point so that it looks perfect? This specific point took up the most of your time.

You are flabbergasted, wondering what happened, or you are still stuck at the point where you can’t move forward due to your habit of perfectionism.

We all, in general, face this problem. It is not only me or you, but basically everyone. Point is some of us are just better in decision making and some are like me or you ;(.

There’s no need to feel bad about it.

It is okay.

Things don’t change overnight, obviously, but we can try to improve and fix this problem.

Do I have any tricks to provide to deal with this problem?

I am not sure. I do have a small story that can give some insight.

So, I was not sure whether to publish this blog. First, I wanted to be free and have time for it. I have exams in a few months, and I was thinking that once I am finished with my studies, I’ll start looking into how to do it and eventually publish it after my writing is at a level where I think it is fine to write a blog.

Found something interesting here? Same old overthinking and putting emphasis on point: “I will write it once I think my writing is good enough”.

So how many months would it have taken if I had followed my previous steps exactly?

6 months?   1 year?   Or never?

Well, instead of overthinking it, I went ahead and did it anyway. ” What is going to happen?

This article and this blog exist only because I’m not looking for perfection. I’m writing this article without any sense of fear or self-criticism. I’m doing it because I want to, and it doesn’t need to be perfect.

Hence the result is that it is here; otherwise, my perfectionist-looking self would not have written it. It would have ended up being just an imaginary thought instead.

So do not bother too much about trivial things and go with whatever you have. If it is kind of bad, then it would work as experience, and you would also receive enlightenment from doing that action.

Of course, genuine encouragement might push you there, so I hope this article can encourage it to some extent. Go for it! 🙂