Perfectionism

One of the reasons I’m writing this blog, and on the search for how I should live my life, is because of my perfectionism. I am concerned about how I should optimize my time and life in order to have the “best” or “happiest” output. Although I just wrote many chapters about how one should do so, I want to offer a piece of advice that it doesn’t have to be perfect.

I have always noticed that something was off with this perfectionist tendency to optimize my time. I would try and try, but also recognize that it’s really weird because I can’t even remember exactly what I did last week. Or what I did on that vacation that I meticulously planned. However, I recently remembered one of my favorite Maya Angelou quotes: “you’ll forget what they said, you’ll forget what they did, but you’ll never forget how they made you feel.” Perhaps it’s not exactly about what we do but how it makes us feel.

So, if it makes you feel more stressed to plan, don’t plan, just enjoy! Perhaps we should be more focused on the intentions behind our actions: are we doing something from a place of fear of missing out, or genuine curiosity or excitement for the situation? This mindfulness, and letting go of perfectionism, could lead to a more positive outcome.