Perfectionism, Procrastination, and Fear

Photo (c) iStockphoto.com/alle12

What a motley crew: Perfectionism, Procrastination, and Fear. While they look very different from the outside, they're all wearing the same neon green long johns underneath! Fear is the leader of this trio of impostors.

When we try something that's outside of our comfort zone, Fear sends Perfectionism and Procrastination out first to force us to stay stuck while Fear hides in the shadows. Fear has been around for a very long time. Fear is desperate to protect us against everything from saber-toothed tigers to jay-walking in Manhattan.

This Fear character can't discern between the first day in court for a new lawyer and his prehistoric counterpart who is hiding from a woolly mammoth! So, fear is working incognito, pushing Perfectionism and Procrastination right in your path.

Fear hopes that we won't even have a clue about the reason for our difficulties. And we end up blaming ourselves!

Let's look at Perfectionism. First it will con us into thinking that perfection is a worthy, even honorable goal. But how can that be true when it keeps us barely crawling toward our goals? (Not to mention that perfection is impossible to attain!)

Procrastination, on the other hand, makes us feel bad about ourselves, and we start looking for ways to "fix" that. And taking time for fixing slows us down even more! Ugh!

Photo (c) iStockphoto.com/Joe Potato Photo


Let's get to the bottom of the Fear. Let's dust it off and take a closer look. Is this Fear from limiting beliefs from the past? A past experience that we don't want to risk repeating? A worst-case scenario that we don't want to manifest? What are the odds for this scary scenario actually happening? How would you cope if it did?

Pick a situation in your own life and apply the questions above to it. Please put your answers in the comments section! Your responses will deepen the meaning of the questions for all of us (including you!) Please answer now, while it's fresh in your mind. In other words, don't procrastinate! :-)

Making mistakes is our only bridge to competency, and of course there is no bridge to Perfection at all. And even if there were, no one would ever make it to the other side, due to Fear and Procrastination!

All my best,

Susan

Upcoming Spring Events, Both Local and Global

Local:

The Boyertown Area Community Wellness Fair is on Saturday, March 26!

Contact me for more information at scleaver@dejazzd.com or 610-385-3766.

The Healthy Lifestyles EXPO will be in Pottstown, PA, on Friday, April 15.

Contact me at scleaver@dejazzd.com or 610-385-3766.

Both local events mentioned above will be complimentary, and I'll have a table at each!

The Stress-Less Evening will take place on Friday evening, April 29, to wrap up our three months of "The Possible You"!

One of my most popular events...at a recession-friendly fee of $25 prepaid for two hours of pure pampering! Contact me at scleaver@dejazzd.com or 610-385-3766. I'll need your check by Wednesday, April 20, 2011.

Global:

A complimentary coaching session by phone is available for the first three people who contact me to set up a time by Friday, April 8, 2011! Appointment dates for the actual coaching call will close out after Tuesday, May 10, 2011.
Contact me at scleaver@dejazzd.com or 610-385-3766.

The Complimentary Dig-In Day via Teleconference Line will be on Tuesday, May 3. This will be the Kick-Off Event for our Second-Quarter Topic for our Year of Audacious Self-Care: "Take a Look Around: Your Immediate Environment." We will be improving our home, office, or studio environments. Here's how:

*We all call in at a specified time.*

*We each declare specifically what we will do in the coming hour to improve our immediate environments.*

*We hang up and do it!*

*We call in again, report our progress, offer support, and declare our task for the next hour.*

*During the last call, we report our progress again, address concerns, and celebrate!*

Again, the Dig-In Date Is May 3. Here is the call schedule:

7:00, 8:00, and 9:00 pm Eastern

Save the Date! In my next post I'll be supplying the phone number and PIN Code.

***All of Susan's creative4life posts are copyright of Susan Cleaver.***

***Active member of the TriCounty Community Network, based in Pottstown, PA;

http://www.tcnetwork.org/.***

Photo (c) iStockphoto.com/Joe Potato Photo

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The "Perfect" Excuse

What causes perfectionism? It's commonly believed that it results from a fear of criticism. This is just the tip of the iceberg, though.

Consider a more insidious source: the fear of moving out of our comfort zones. Perfectionism steals precious time from activities we consciously wish we had the time to do. But because of our unconscious fears, we use that time to:

~Stay stuck.

~Feel busy without accomplishing much of anything.

~Stall until the "perfect, risk-free" opportunity comes along (which is, conveniently, NEVER).

No matter how much we may want to move forward consciously, a frightened or poorly programmed subconscious will block it in an effort to protect us. We can reassure our subconscious minds by:

~Identifying limiting beliefs and replacing them with beliefs that support our expansion.

~Taking baby steps outside our comfort zones so the subconscious feels less threatened.

~Accepting the fear. The only way out of our comfort zones is through the fear. (See the work of Dr. Susan Jeffers, author of Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway.)

Please comment on your adventures outside of your comfort zone!

Thanks,

Susan

P.S. Whether you've taken on a "Plan B" or one has been thrust upon you...contact me at scleaver@dejazzd.com to set up a complimentary coaching session called...

*** Plan B: Transforming Transition ***

In this session we'll strategize for your smooth transition to "Plan B" with...

The Five R's of Transformation:

1) Regroup

2) Reframe

3) Reserves

4) Resilience

5) Rewards!

*********************

***All of Susan's creative4life posts are copyright of Susan Cleaver.***

***Member of the TriCounty Community Network, a local human services resource at www.TCNetwork.info.***

Why Do We Resist Creating Our Art?

See if you recognize any of these culprits:

Confusion
We have a lack of clarity about what we really want from our work. This can be the result of conflicts between what we consciously want and what our limiting paradymes and beliefs are telling us unconsciously. These limitations are passed down from many aspects of society, and as kids we take them right in without a thought. We need to clean out our mental closets of such phrases as "starving artists," "artists are flakes," etc., and replace them with positive beliefs that will better serve us. Which brings us to the next culprit....

Lack of Knowledge of the Law of Attraction
Please check out my 6/11/07 post on how I created my products using this law. With a little faith, combined with positive thinking and inspired action, we can use the Law of Attraction to get into the creative flow. If you haven't seen the movie "The Secret" yet, check it out at www.thesecret.tv.

Fear
This is big one for all of us. Author Susan Jeffers tells us to "Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway," because if we wait for it to go away before we start anything...well, we simply won't start anything! Our fears can include stage fright, fear of change, risk, criticism, and/or jealousy. And the fear of jealousy can lead to feelings of...

Guilt
Even if others don't act negatively out of jealousy, we may still feel guilty about outshining our peers. But if we all felt that way, who would be our mentors...and how might we inspire others by our examples? Mature individuals will learn from us rather than despise us for the trails we are blazing.

Perfectionism
I have heard that glamour is a function of distance. We are all out there putting our best foot forward, so sometimes we forget that other people's paths have been just as curvy and messy as ours have been. This can even make us feel like frauds at times. But we're not; we're just human! What's more, perfectionism leads to...

Overthinking
We want to cover all the bases (not to mention our butts!). Overthinking is time-consuming, exhausting, confusing, and very unwelcoming to our creativity and intuition. When we get used to using the Law of Attraction, we find it easier to let go of overthinking, so don't forget to check that out, as I mentioned above.

To your productivity and success,
Susan

P.S. Email me at scleaver@dejazzd.com for a complimentary exploratory coaching tele-session on this topic or most any other!