Getting Past Perfectionism
Perfectionism is one of the biggest problems that writers struggle with on a regular basis. And most writers tend to blame themselves for this problem. We often see perfectionism as a character flaw, or a bad habit that we need to conquer. But what most writers don’t know is that perfectionism is neither of these things.
When you suffer from perfectionism at a deep level, what you’re really struggling with is anxiety, and much of the time, that anxiety is out of your control. It is not something to be conquered or battled.
It is something to be healed.
That’s why it doesn’t work when we treat perfectionism as if it’s something “bad” or “negative,” because when we do this, we end up judging ourselves. When we judge ourselves, we only block ourselves further, because we’re blocking the energy of healing.
So, instead of pushing ourselves harder to get over it, we need to learn about the root causes of our perfectionism. One of the biggest root causes is not feeling good enough in childhood.
I talk more about this in the video below:
I’m teaching a workshop for writers who struggle with perfectionism this Saturday, Nov 11 called Perfectionism: How to Heal Writing Anxiety, and we’ll be going deep into the root causes of perfectionism, and how to heal it.
The workshop is from 1:00–2:30pm EST, but will also be recorded for anyone who can’t make it live. You can register and find out more details here:
PERFECTIONISM: HOW TO HEAL WRITING ANXIETY
This is a great workshop for writers who are having trouble writing anything, and for more seasoned writers who are currently writing, but also still struggling with perfectionism. If you have any questions, please send them to me here.
And hopefully I’ll see you there!
Lauren Sapala is the author of The INFJ Writer, The INFJ Revolution, and the creator of Energy and Intuition for INFJs, an online course for INFJs on intuition, relationships, creativity, and more. She is also currently offering a free copy of her book Firefly Magic: Heart Powered Marketing for Highly Sensitive Writers to anyone who signs up for her newsletter. SIGN UP HERE to get your free copy.