Finding peace & fulfillment for exhausted perfectionists
Do you identify as a perfectionist?
Are you a driven & high achieving professional who is not satisfied with your achievement? “Almost perfect” is not good enough.
Do you work extremely hard to avoid failure or harsh judgment? Do you procrastinate for the fear of making mistakes?
Do you have unrealistically high expectations of yourself or others? Are you quick to find fault or tend to be highly critical of mistakes? Do you have a critical inner voice?
You might be a perfectionist! We all know there is no such thing as perfection, but secretly we all chase for perfection. We get pleasure to be “perfect” in the past, we achieve, we are praised, we get promoted, we feel good about ourselves.
But since you are reading this blog, the chances are “being perfect” is doing you more harm than good now.
Why do you have maladaptive perfectionism?
A fear of failure or disapproval from others
Low self-esteem
A need for control
Early childhood experiences, such as having highly critical parents with unrealistically high expectations
Societal and cultural expectations can also play a role in the development of perfectionism
Peace and fulfillment for perfectionists
It’s exhausting to always chase for perfection or the next best thing, and never be satisfied. We want to experience self-love and peaceful rather than relentless anxiety. So how could we start to cultivate a mindset that appreciates peace and fulfillment as perfectionists?
We need to learn self-acceptance.
Three layers of self-acceptance are:
Be on your side. Choose to value yourself, treat yourself with respect and see your self-worth.
Willingness to experience. Think our thoughts, feel our emotions, and be present to the reality of our behaviors. Own our experience without avoidance.
Compassion. Be a true friend to ourselves, especially in moments of regret, shame, or self-criticism.
Psychotherapy could help you, exhausted perfectionists, reclaim joy & peace & self-love & fulfillment.
My name is Wenjia, as a highly skilled and empathetic therapist, I specialize in supporting exhausted adults who struggle with low self-esteem/people pleasing/co-dependency/perfectionism. My goal is to help you develop a positive view of yourself and thrive in a more fulfilling life.