Mastodawn

Look straight at the perfectionism

Ask yourself what perfect looks like. What are the specific elements? What’s on the checklist?

Procrustes will never have an answer to this question, but always a response along the lines of “I’ll know it when I see it.” That’s not good enough. He has no idea what perfection means! He’s exposed. He cannot meet his own standards. He’s in his bed. You know what to do. Grab your creative tools and get to work.

~ Boston Blake, from Perfectionism

I’ve long agreed with the sentiment that “I’ll know it when I see it” is bullshit. I’ve long thought that was because if one doesn’t know “what it should look like” then one doesn’t actually understand whatever it is we’re talking about judging. My thinking was focused on identifying whether or not I (or whomever) was capable of judging.

But this insight from Blake got me thinking about a more fundamental layer of judgement: If I (or whomever) is not capable of judging (as evidenced by espoused sheep dip like “I’ll know it when I see it”) then I shouldn’t even be involved in the judging. Which is also a powerful way to banish my own internal critic.

#BostonBlake #Creativity #InnerCritic #Perfectionism #SelfAwareness

Craig Constantine

Presence, not pursuit.

Craig Constantine

Matilda's Lab 1d ago

Self esteem is all fine and good, but we are social creatures. What's the point in being brilliant if no one else is appreciating it. This is backed up by a new study that found workplace perfectionists are more driven by approval from above than self expectation.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1123297
#sciencenews #perfectionism

If you’re a perfectionist at work, your boss’ expectations may matter more than your own, research finds

Workers perform better, have less burnout and experience greater job satisfaction when their standards for perfection match their supervisor’s expectations, according to a University of Florida study.

EurekAlert!

AAOOIIRN 2d ago

The UI I made wasn't centered in the screen, I'm annoyed. #love2d #ui #programming #art #perfectionism

Hugh's Views & News 4d ago

You’re Not Stuck: The Surprising Power Of Finally Changing Your Blog Theme

I keep telling myself I’m going to stop, but somehow I never quite do.

I’ve been tangled up in something I just couldn’t escape from… until now.

Feeling trapped by your blog’s look?

If you are not sure what I am talking about, two of my recent posts have the clues.

‘Why Now Is The Time To Pull Up My ‘Big Boy’ Trousers’ About My Blog and ‘How I Finally Switched My Blog to a Block Theme – Challenges, Wins, and Must-Know Tips for WordPress Bloggers.

What changed when I finally took the leap

Before I started changing my blog’s theme, I was scared, unsure, and afraid, and I doubted myself.

Now, on the other side of making the changes, I’m excited, proud, happy, inquisitive, feel secure and patting myself on the back, while encouraging other bloggers to do what I have just done.

Who would have thought that all the doubts and negativity I had about changing my blog’s theme would transfer into positivity and a sense of achievement?

When healthy tweaking turns into a time trap

However, the work I have done never seems complete to me.

Of course, it is complete because everything is working well, and I’ve had fantastic feedback from readers on the new look.

Yet I continue to look for changes I can make to the theme I chose because it’s become addictive. This has led me to neglect writing, the one thing I came to the blogging world to do.

When I discovered blogging in 2014, my passion for writing was ignited, despite my dyslexia.

Noticing when your time stops feeling well spent

More importantly, after drafting a new post, I feel like I’ve completed my day and haven’t wasted it.

I felt the same way when I first started changing the theme of my blog. There was little, if any, writing done, yet I always felt as if my day hadn’t been wasted.

But now I’ve reached a point where the changes I am making to my theme are no longer giving me that feeling of a completed day.

You can change more than you think, starting small

I’ve always disliked wasting time, yet I’ve often found myself falling into its trap.

I feel time is something we should not only be thankful for but also regard as precious.

I don’t want to go down a path of negativity here, because nobody wants to hear or read anything negative, as it can ruin some readers’ days, but that sign of negativity is an alarm clock telling me to stop making changes to my blog and to get back to doing what I first came here to do – write!

There are so many possibilities ahead, but change brings even more.

Don’t be frightened of change. It’s far better to spend some of your precious time embracing it than to head down the road of negativity, which only leads to frustration and often to failure.

If you don’t have time to make any change, take a closer look at what you are doing, and you’ll be surprised by how much time you are wasting.

Put that wasted time to work on change, which, in turn, will open the door to opportunities and experiences that make life richer, more interesting, and a lot more your own.

You don’t need a grand plan or a perfect moment. You don’t need excuses.

You just need to grab a small slice of that wasted time and point it in a better direction.

Read a few pages. Make that call. Go for a walk. Start that project you keep talking yourself out of (like changing the theme of your blog to one that WordPress supports). None of it has to be fancy. It just has to be real.

You are not stuck. You are not too late. You are not the one person for whom this won’t work.

You are simply one decision away from using your time differently.

What’s one area of your blog where fear has left you stuck lately?

If you could change just one small thing about your blog, what would it be? What’s stopping you from doing it?

When have you surprised yourself by making a change you thought you couldn’t do?

What’s one tiny step you can take today to move from ‘stuck’ to ‘in progress’?

The featured image in this post was created using the WordPress image generator. AI was used to check for grammar and spelling mistakes and to help with the layout of the post.

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