Perfectionism follows on naturally from Fear of Failure which was covered yesterday – Day 2.
Many of us were raised to think that we had to be the best in everything that we did. No room for slips or mistakes.
The perfectionist’s outlook is that if they are not doing it perfectly well all of the time then they shouldn’t do it at all.
As a result, many overweight people feel that if they can’t be perfect on their diet, they might as well just quit.
The first and probably most import thing to note – everyone has them, slips that is. Let’s get that out of the way – you’re not on your own.
We learn from our mistakes and it is inherent in the human condition that we don’t always get things right, be it at the beginning, middle or close to the end of any programme (weight loss, stop smoking, etc).
It is how we deal with these slips that is crucial to our long-term success (and happiness).
At Motivation, from day one with new clients, we get them so sign a commitment form and we let them know there will be slips along the journey – you are only human. We show them how to think about slips differently as most clients will have tried and failed any number of conventional weight loss programmes due to quitting after a slip or series of slips.
Thinking about slips or failure differently empowers our clients to be able to slip, to learn and to move on without missing a step. No pangs of guilt of feelings of failure.
If you felt empowered by yesterday’s post and feel up to the challenge of losing a modest amout of weight to start with then listen this podcast – it’s an invaluable tool in helping you to learn about slips and relapses but most importantly, how to deal with perfectionism and guilt.
