I think it is human nature that we want things to be perfect. We want to be a perfect wife. We long for the perfect marriage.
And then what happens? We set unrealistic expectations of ourselves. We pour our energy into the tasks, projects, and relationships in front of us, trying to make everything perfect… and it never is. It can’t be!
If you’ve wound up feeling like a failure because things aren’t perfect, you’re not alone. With this unrealistic and unbiblical goal in our hearts, we wind up overwhelmed and disappointed.
So many of us are perfectionists. And we pay the price for it with our mental health, our emotions, and the loss of time and energy for our most important people.
If perfectionism is something that you have struggled with, join me in today’s episode. I’ll share some of my journey dealing with the temptation of perfectionism and we’ll look at some practical strategies that we can take when that temptation pops up.
Listen to Episode 15:
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Are your relationships feeling a little… dry? Stuck in a rut? It happens to all of us.
Sometimes, life gets stuck on autopilot. You’re busy. The mental list of what you “should” do gets longer while your patience gets shorter.
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P.S. … If you find today’s episode helpful, you may find my Recommended Resources for Self-Care and Identity helpful also.
Episode Show Notes
Today, we dig into the topic of perfectionism. I call myself a “recovering perfectionist” and I still see that temptation pop up today!
In this episode, I share a story from my life, which happened just a few days ago. I found myself wanting to re-record two whole episodes of this podcast because I was unsatisfied with the sound quality of my original recording.
Is it the end of the world to re-do some work that is already of perfectly fine quality? No. Of course not. But, I don’t really have that time to spare.
My heart was wanting perfection.
But the Lord was faithful to remind me that perfection is not possible.
You’ll get the most out of this topic if you listen to the whole episode (use the links above). But here are a few thoughts that I shared in the episode:
We are typically tempted toward perfectionism IN PART because of good reasons:
- We want to do high quality work.
- We want great relationships.
- We want to make God look good by doing our work with excellence.
- We want to provide a great service, product, or be a big help to others (like me wanting high-quality audio for these podcast episodes!)
But there is another temptation in our hearts as well.
Part of the temptation is that we want to look good.
That selfishness and pride shines through in our perfectionism. It may not be an intentional goal or something we really think about. But when we try to make things perfect, we are trying to make ourselves look good.
When you are tempted toward perfectionism, try out these action steps:
- Pause. Don’t keep moving forward and working so hard.
- Talk about it with God.
- Ask yourself why. Why are you trying so hard?
Let's connect!
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- Email me anytime at Jessica@loveyourpeoplewell.com
Don’t forget to sign up for the Relationship Reset FREE 5-Day Email Course!
And if you found today’s episode helpful, you may find my Recommended Resources for Self-Care and Identity helpful also.
As a disclaimer: I am a licensed therapist but this podcast is not therapy. It is not personal advice to your specific situation. If you believe professional counseling may be helpful for you in this season of life, you may find this article on the Love Your People Well website helpful.
