Excellence Vs Perfectionism
The cultivation of excellence in life is the pursuit of all masters. It’s the noble path and the highest point of realization for humans.
It enables the fullest expression of life through action.
Perfectionism, on the other hand, is delusional and corruptive, it steals hope and joy from life and leaves us filled with doubt and stuck in our heads.
When we are looking to become successful in any area of life or business, we find that once a level of mastery is reached, we get rewarded. Therefore, it stands to reason that mastery is the way forward.
Mastery is achieved through daily practice and sustained efforts it’s a long game, you could call this game “the game of life, ” i.e., The pursuit of our dreams.
So unless the process of playing this “game” is fun and enjoyable while also challenging and stimulating, then I am not going to play for long.
The same goes for our process goals, as we move towards our big vision.
Why?
Because those process goals ARE the pursuit of mastery, and like I said that is a long game.
So it best is fun!
This is the path of the master, taking this approach of daily excellence cultivates character and focus.
The Over-Achiever, on the other hand, is a perfectionist at heart.
I know because I am one.
This approach to life is a struggle and filled with disappointment disillusionment and stress.
I like to remember the first time I realized I was coming from this place and how inappropriate it was: It was my first ever yoga class, and I was giving my all in there as the teacher instructed us to bend and flex, I was determined to bend further and stretch harder!
At the end of the class, the instructor asked me if I had enjoyed the class? I said, “yes I loved it, but it was harder than I expected.” He said. “This is not an aerobics class; you don’t need to try so hard, we are cultivating life force here, we are moving with the flow of breath, there is nowhere to get to, try to be a little easier on yourself next time and maybe you will enjoy it.”
This was a revelation to me at the time, but the scope of the problem was realized more recently. I decided to create a 30day video challenge for myself in my facebook group club fearless. The challenge came off the back of a live coaching session I did I exposed some vulnerabilities about my work and life and was asked to take the call a step further and do a ten-day video challenge
Without realizing, this was once more seen this as yet another opportunity to overreach and push me. As a side note, I had hardly done any FB lives until this point, and my group was neglected I was not in a favourable position to commit to such a big goal. But without considering this, I was convinced this was the only way forward, to obliterate my previous lack of action and 3 x my challenge.
This is it. The moment of realization where we can step back and look at the bigger picture and see the holes in this approach
Because so often when we do this we burn out immediately with our forced efforts and we become disillusioned by our goals and dreams
Our life is one of constant striving and struggles to get ahead. With no enjoyment of what we have right now because we have set our lives up in such a way that our day is filled with business. Compound this with the stress of our huge expectation about where we believe we “should be” leaving us feeling incomplete and unsatisfied.
From here it’s not long before the siren call of self-doubt is ringing in our ears, and imminent failure or more intense action ensues.
A perpetual loop of never-ending grind and small bursts of joy.
This is the path of the Over-Achiever, taking this approach of Perfectionism. Leaving us overworked, stuck in our heads and burnt out by our efforts
Which one are you?
