Hi girl, welcome to Soul CEO; a podcast for women who know they’re destined for more. I’m Lindsey Mango and I’m going to show you that you can have it all and teach you how to get it by becoming the CEO of your soul, life, and business. Let’s get started.
Hello, how are you guys? I am so excited to be here as always, but particularly this week because the other week I asked my audience what they wanted me to do podcast episodes on and one of my actually beautiful, amazing clients named Ursula, she’s in my Next Level mastermind, gave me such an awesome topic that I knew all of you guys would want to hear.
And the topic is letting go of perfection and how to let go of perfection, and I know it’s something that so many people struggle with, it keeps them stuck, it keeps them from going after what they really want in life. It keeps them sitting at the starting line of their business, of their life, of their relationships, whatever it is because here’s the reality, we know nothing is perfect. And that can become quite an interesting spiral if that is what you’re striving for and can keep you very, very stuck.
So how do you actually let go of being perfect? How do you let go of this perfectionistic idea? Well, there’s two things. There’s ways you can do it. One, you can change the story of what perfection means for you, or and – both could be powerful – two, you can look at what you make it mean when something isn’t perfect and dig deeper into that and heal that to heal the heart of the issue.
So really, I think both of these things are going to be powerful and impactful for those of you who struggle with perfection. So what does this actually look like? So perfection is just a story, and when I say story, it’s like a belief that we’ve created and so how we know this is because perfection looks different for different people. And perfection, we all know, isn’t reality. Literally every single thing is imperfect in some way or another. That’s a part of the beauty of life and reality.
So I think the first thing is looking at what does perfection mean, what does that look like to you. Does that mean that there are no errors? That everything is lined up exactly the way you want it to be in your mind? What is it that – what story do you have about perfection and what is it supposed to look like?
Then – this is about changing your story of perfection. Then, how do you want to see perfection? Could you redefine perfection as being imperfection? The fact that we are perfectly imperfect and that’s actually what perfection is is being raw, is being real, is having errors, is having faults because every single human being and every single thing has that, right?
What would you have to think? What would you have to believe in order to create a new story around perfection and how can you create a new story around it that really serves you, that helps you say like, this is my version of perfection is doing the best I can every single day. Some days that looks like me putting on my fanciest earrings and doing my hair and some days that looks like me rolling out of bed in a robe and getting to work.
That’s perfection. Or maybe you redefine perfection being like, being authentic and being real. So how can you create a new story, like prove the old story wrong that that isn’t even perfection because let’s just take this even a little bit deeper. Not to get too crazy, but what if perfection was actually not perfection because it wasn’t real?
So the new story is that imperfection is perfection. It’s not a bad thing to strive for it. So this is the other piece. I have really high standards for the way things go but I also don’t get stuck on it needing to be perfect. I truly believe that my business, my audience, my clients, the people that I love are going to love me for my imperfections and want what I have to offer more than they want it to be perfect.
So then this is the next piece of it. So we want to change the story about what perfection is and then we need to look at what you make it mean when something isn’t perfect. So for those of you guys who struggle with this perfectionistic mentality, what do you make it mean if something isn’t perfect? Write it down.
What comes to mind? Well, that it’s bad, that it’s a failure, that it’s wrong, that people are going to see it and that means something bad. What do you make it mean when something isn’t perfect?
And the next piece of this is what do you have to heal within you to be okay with these things? Let’s say something not being perfect means that it failed or means that it’s wrong. How could you be okay with something being a failure, for something being wrong? Does it have to mean anything? Or could it just be an opportunity to grow?
For another thing with perfection, what if you made it mean that you’re not going to be successful? How can you see that differently? Could you say that like, doing things that are imperfect is what’s going to make you successful, it is going to be the thing that drives you forward. It’s kind of like the saying better done than perfect.
So how can you prove all of this wrong? How can it mean something amazing that something isn’t perfect, and how can you strive to make things better and better and better and have high standards for the way you want things to be done but still make sure that you’re getting your work out there in the world and still make sure you’re taking some messy action?
Because messy action is what creates the change. I want you guys to think about this. I love this example. I’m sure I’ve told this story before, but babies who have to learn how to walk, they fall over and over and over again. So we’ll just use this as a comparison to perfection. So let’s just say a baby had an idea that they needed to be perfect. So they weren’t going to try to walk until they were perfect and they knew that they were going to walk.
Let me ask you guys this; would this baby ever walk? No, because the way a baby gets strong enough to walk is by falling. They have done studies like, a baby falling and pushing themselves back up and squatting and standing back up is what gives them the strength to walk.
So the reality is that it takes the imperfections to get to “perfection.” And perfection doesn’t have to mean anything. You can still strive for it, but where people get stuck is what they make it mean and how they hold onto it and how it keeps them stuck in inaction and in fear and from not trying to walk.
So I want you guys to start to do these two things if you get stuck in this perfection mentality. Change the story about perfection and change what you’re making it mean. Then you can strive for it, but you’ll know that you’re going to fall over and need to push yourself back up and try again and that it’s going to need to be imperfect in order for you to get closer to making it perfect.
So, there’s so many different ways to look at it. If striving for perfection isn’t serving you at all, let go of it, create a new story. Create permission for yourself to let it be imperfect and know that that is perfect and amazing exactly as it is. I know so many people struggle with this, so if you feel inspired, I would love for you to share a screenshot of this on your Instagram story. Tag me in it.
I cannot wait to hear y’alls feedback and I cannot wait for you to go and apply this. And thank you so much Ursula for sharing this podcast episode idea. Such a powerful thing and I know so many people struggle with. So I love you guys and I hope you have a beautiful day. I’ll talk to you soon. Bye.
Thank you so much for joining me for today’s episode of Soul CEO. If you want to go even deeper into how to create a vision of the life you really want, how to become the woman in that vision and how to deal with the roadblocks we all face along the way, head over to lindseymangocoaching.com/high-vibe-formula to get your free training of my High-Vibe Formula.
