Growing up I was obsessed that the only way I could fit in or be worth anything was to be perfect. Many, many years late it sunk in that nobody is perfect, no matter how everything looked on the outside. I guess it was because I felt like such a mess on the inside; I had to be as perfect as I could on the outside.

During on of my Ph.D Residencies, my professors made us repeat “We are striving for excellence not perfection!” We tend to put so much pressure on ourselves to be perfect, that we don’t allow ourselves to grow. To me that leads to such an upsetting world of disappointment if one thing goes wrong and failure seems so much more daunting than it would if we prepared ourselves for set backs. Now, I am not meaning to dwell on the negative, but to give yourself a little grace in case a set back occurs. Being excellent doesn’t mean being perfect!

When staying healthy, I strive for positive progress, not perfection. Eating healthy, but not beating myself up if I drink a diet coke or eat french fries. Making sure that the run I take isn’t to punish myself since swimsuit season is coming up quickly, so I slow my pace and turn the music up! How do you change your thinking towards progress not perfection???

“Strive for progress not perfection.” -Anonymous