What is perfectionist brain, and do you have it? Have you ever felt like you’re always waiting for something? Like you’re waiting to feel happy, waiting to lose weight, waiting to get a raise, waiting to feel like you’ve earned or deserve the things you want… Just always waiting? It’s so easy to get stuck there. Our perfectionist brain wants us to wait until things are just right, before we’re allowed to feel accomplished or worthy of feeling good about ourselves.

Perfectionist brain gives us a high when we’re in the planning phase. When we’re writing out on the calendar the healthy meals we’re going to eat, the workouts we’re going to do, the chores we’re going to get done, the projects we’re going to finish, we feel amazing. Nothing can get in our way. Look! Its all planned out! Then the next day rolls around. Maybe only one of the things you had written out and planned to get done, gets done. We feel a little deflated, but not completely discouraged. We’re ready to take on the next day! A fresh start! We’ll get it all done!

This time, maybe zero of the things we had written out and planned so carefully, gets done. There is a reason for this. Sweet, idealistic, perfectionist brain. It’s trying to protect you. It’s trying to keep you happy. But what’s really happening is, it’s keeping you waiting. Perfectionism is an easy trap to get caught in, because it feels amazing to think about who we would be in this perfect fantasy. Looking at your calendar filled with accomplishments is intoxicating.

But how does it feel when you look at your full calendar, and day after day, barely anything or possibly nothing, has gotten done? Now we’re continuously waiting for the next day so we can have a “fresh start”. So we can do everything exactly as we had planned it, and we can feel accomplished and proud. That day, however, is never going to come. Even if it did, it wont last. Perfection is not obtainable, nor could it be sustained. Even if you had been able to get everything done that you had planned, perfectionist brain would look for something that you screwed up or could have done better.

So we say fuck that. We don’t need perfection. We don’t need to keep waiting and dreaming of who we would be in perfect land. We need to be proud of the things we accomplish each day. Building the habits that will lead us to the big goals we want to accomplish can be just as exhilarating and intoxicating as dreaming of the perfection world. Because building sustainable habits is what will allow us to actually achieve the goals, instead of just sitting around waiting for perfection to happen.

So, do you have perfectionist brain? Shoot me an email or leave a comment and tell me, what is one thing perfectionist brain has you waiting to accomplish?