Do you often get tied up in knots at the thought of doing something wrong? Are you procrastinating on working on a project because you don’t know where to begin?

To a person who thinks of themselves as a perfectionist, it’s often considered as a badge of honor, but taken to its extremes it can be a recipe for disaster. Find out what you can do to break through the no can dos.

Do you often get tied up in knots at the thought of making a mistake or failing? Whether your challenge is wanting to write a book, lose weight, sell your home, start a new business, eat healthier or reignite the romance in your relationship, wanting to get it ‘perfect’ can often stop you dead in your tracks.

Perfectionism is defined as having exceedingly high standards for yourself as well as other people. Holding your bar high is a good thing, but if your expectations are out of the range of what is reasonably possible, then you could be unconsciously setting yourself up to fail.

People who suffer from perfectionism feel a burning need to prove that they can do things perfectly. This often leads to feelings of frustration because we fall short of our own standards.

Striving for Excellence vs. Perfectionism

A lot of the coaching clients I work with initially come to me because they are struggling with insecurities around their body image. Living in a society that puts so much pressure on women to look a certain way, it’s very difficult to feel good about a body that you judge to be inferior.

But in reality there is no single perfect shape. The problem is not our bodies. It is the way that we view our bodies.

We tend to judge ourselves too harshly.

Here are several tips to help you beat the perfection blues:

1. Relax – Change your goal to taking the next step.