3 Ways To Avoid Falling Into The Trap Of Perfectionism, From A Psychologist

Make sure you understand the root of your goals. Sometimes a desire to perfect certain areas of life can seem like it’s coming from a good place, but actually be a cover for deeper issues.

For example, if your quest to faithfully adhere to a gym schedule comes from a sincere desire to nurture your physical and mental well-being (often called intuitive exercise), that’s great. But if it connects to a deeper belief that you won’t be loveable until your body reaches a certain point of “perfection,” then you deserve support to take a deeper look at what’s driving you.

An easy way to check this is to add “so that” after your goal. (You may need to do this a few times to get to the root of your motivation.) For example, “I want to go to the gym regularly so that…” If you fill in the last blank with “…so that I can stay mobile and active throughout my life,” that’s a healthy motivation. If you fill it in with “…so that I can be the thinnest person at the office,” that’s not constructive. 

Not all examples will be so black-and-white of course, but taking the time to explore your reasons for improvement can help increase motivation around healthy goals and help stimulate you to reconsider goals that may not truly serve you.