Done Trumps Perfect Every Time!

You can't tell it by looking at my house. (I have two cats who shed cat hair in clumps that turn into these odd ethereal tumbleweeds. I'm wondering if you can knit with cat hair?)

You wouldn't know it by looking at my nails. (Why is it that I have my most brilliant painting brainstorms when I am getting my nails done only to rush back home to get gesso in the crevices of my newly clipped cuticles.)

You can't tell it by looking at my art room. (I collect stuff to use in my work and I've never seen an art supply I didn't need to own.)

But in spite of appearances, I am a closet perfectionist.

Where my perfectionism shows up most is in starting or finishing a creative project.
My perfectionist thinking is this:

I will never do (my art/creative project/business/whatever) good enough, so why begin? OR

My project is never going to look/sound/taste/work/make money like I imagined, so why finish?

Perfectionism blocks creativity and is a real self-esteem buzz kill. (Not that I often have a self-esteem buzz, but I just liked thinking that somebody somewhere does.)

I have heard this advice and I want to pass it on because it has helped me a lot.

Done trumps perfect every time.

If I wait until I consider my art perfect then my story may never get written, my artwork never get finished, or my cat hair scarf never knitted.

"Done" is good enough.
"Done" recognizes that I am a perfectly fallible human being and I am allowed to make perfectly fallible stuff.
"Done" allows me to do better next time, not be locked in paralysis.
"Done" lets me be glad I actually started or finished something I said I was going to do which entitles me to a possible self-esteem buzz.

What Are You Afraid Of?

Hi Creative Friends,

In the spirit of Halloween and in the spirit of my announcement yesterday that I am going to be doing a scary poetry reading on Thursday, I am going to talk about how you can use EFT to eliminate a fear of performing.

Let's use this poetry reading as an example. BTW, today I asked myself over and over if I was nervous and myself said "No." Funny, I keep waiting for the fear to well up but it just hasn't. Yay! So the EFT tapping that I did on this topic long ago is still holding.

Let's say that you think your poem is good enough to read. You have shared it with some trusted people who have given you positive feedback, but the idea of reading it in front of strangers is so scary just the thought makes your hands sweat and your stomach fill with butterflies. (So now we have physical evidence that you are afraid.) You could start there and tap that away.

The next thing I do is start listening to the internal critic, I call Blockhead. My blockhead is always full of helpful information that needs EFT. Suppose your blockhead says something like this:

Who do you think you are?

You'll just make a fool of yourself.

You don't know what you're doing

You're not a real poet.

I am afraid of being seen and heard.

You write out these negative beliefs with your version of what your Blockhead is saying in your head. Now you turn these into EFT statements and tap away the blocks to enjoying the experience of sharing your work and yourself with the world.

Even though my head says, "Who do I think I am," I love and accept myself.
Even though I'll just make a fool of myself, I love and accept myself anyway.
Even though I don't really know what I'm doing, I love and accept myself.
Even though, I am not a real poet, I love and accept myself anyway.
Even though I was always told I should be seen not heard and I am afraid of doing both, I love and accept myself anyway.

There are many more possibilities. Capturing what your blockhead is saying to you and tapping it away is a great way to get down and dirty with these outdated beliefs that are holding you back.

I hope this triggers ideas for you. If you used this material, will you share the outcome with me? How much do you listen to your blockhead?

Hugs,
Diana
Have a creative day!