In this episode I’m talking about perfectionism and it’s very cosy bedfellow procrastination.

I work primarily with objectively successful professional women (I work with men too, but over 90% of my clients are women who hold senior positions in their company or run their own businesses – sometimes both) – and a trait that comes up time and time again for these women is perfectionism – their constant and relentless pursuit of perfection. It can be a loud and urgent pursuit, but it can also be a low and constant hum.

So many incredible, talented and ambitious women are shackled by their perfectionism because more often than not, it’s not helping them to reach greater heights, it’s holding them back. It’s keeping them smaller and more muted than their talents, passions and skills deserve to be.

So today I want to tackle it and provide some ways you can finally break free from the perfectionism/procrastination cycle.

The episode is broken down as follows:

• The Perfectionism-Procrastination Cycle explained – what perfectionism is, what procrastination is and how the two are linked.
• We’ll unpack The myths, lies, harms and excuses of perfectionism 
• We’ll get practical and explore how to move From perfectionism into action – including The Intentional Procrastination Method 
• Self-Coaching Questions for you to interrogate your own relationship with perfectionism and procrastination

Resources referenced:

• ‘How the Modern Epidemic of Perfectionism is Impacting Our Health with Will Storr’ on The Feel Better, Live More podcast by Rangan Chaterjee: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/feel-better-live-more-with-dr-rangan-chatterjee/id1333552422?i=1000648081242
• ‘Children with ADHD Avoid Failure and Punishment More Than Others, Study Says’ by Devon Frye on AttitudeMag: https://www.additudemag.com/children-with-adhd-avoid-failure-punishment/
• ‘Why procrastination isn’t laziness – it’s rigid thinking that your brain can unlearn’ by Annemieke Apergis-Schoute on The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/why-procrastination-isnt-laziness-its-rigid-thinking-that-your-brain-can-unlearn-270838 
• 'How to Befriend Your Inner Critic' by Monique Shaw on The Rewriters podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/s3-ep-4-how-to-befriend-your-inner-critic/id1538589146?i=1000743388781

Further Reading

• Perfectionism is adaptive and maladaptive, but what is the combined effect?' by Joachim Stober, Daniel J Madigan, Lazaros Gonidis on Science Direct: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/perfectionism 
• ‘Perfectionism’ (no author) on Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/basics/perfectionism#:~:text=Perfectionists%20set%20unrealistically%20high%20expectations,life%20for%20approval%20and%20validation.

Work with Monique:

• Join 'The Rewriters Community'. Explore here: https://www.rewriterewrite.com/becomeamember 
• Visit: www.rewriterewrite.com 
• For more tips, tools and stories, subscribe to The Rewrite Newsletter: https://www.rewriterewrite.com/get-the-weekly-rewrite

Get in touch with Monique Shaw:

• Web: www.rewriterewrite.com/contact
• Instagram: @the_rewriters
• LinkedIn: Monique Shaw

The Rewriters is written, researched, produced and presented by Monique Shaw. Original music by DJ Cinnamon.

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