Silence Your Perfectionista
Written by: Janet Macaluso, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Did you get all that? If English is your native language, most likely you understood it, errors and all. Spelling mistakes did not materially impact the outcome.
Unless we’re managing a nuclear energy plant or performing surgery, most likely precise perfection is not required in our daily lives and workday. Yet we often delay taking that next step forward because we assume everything has to be picture-perfect.
Why? What’s this energy-draining inner obstacle?
Well, deep inside most of us resides an overbearing, cantankerous, foul-breath beast — aptly dubbed The VOJ — our internal Voice Of Judgement. The VOJ is our inner perfectionista – a fault-finding saboteur who’s critical of ourselves, of others, or our circumstances.
Sure, the VOJ is useful when editing papers, but without deliberate self-management, the VOJ exceeds its usefulness and stagnates progress.
Here are a couple of hints to manage your inner perfectionista:
Take massive imperfect action
Instead of waiting for picture-perfect excellence, take action and assess the results.
Rinse and repeat.
Cultivate compassion for yourself—and others
Imagine a wise and loving elder—perhaps a grandparent or mentor. What would they say to you when you have a setback or fear?
Compassion paves the way towards persistence beyond failure.
Self-Compassion builds a growth mindset by encouraging our courage.
PRO TIP: Pay attention to your thought bubbles
Discern “who’s” sourcing your thinking: the critical VOJ Saboteur or a life-affirming Sage?
Which percentage of your thoughts are sourced by your VOJ?
For every negative thought, deactivate it with at least three positive ones.
Janet Macaluso, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
After a 25-year corporate career developing executives, teams, and organizations, Janet founded Learning2LEAD, a Regenerative Leadership Development practice based in Cambridge, USA, and Malaga, Spain.
No stranger to personal regeneration, Janet reinvented herself from a college dropout to a flight attendant and aerobic instructor to an award-winning coach and global executive with three academic degrees.
Janet created Learning2LEAD to reflect the life, legacy, and impact she wants to leave. Applying modern science and ancient wisdom, Janet stewards successful mid-life change-makers, leaders, and rabble-rousers ready to transform their "1st-half" successes into "2nd-half" significance.
Whether in virtual workshops or leadership hiking retreats in Spain, Janet nudges clients to move toward their Best Future Self Now - so they can do the same for their people and places. Her mission: To Ban Average!
