My "Left-Brain Workout"
1. Learning musical instruments
2. Not being able to read music
3. Continuing to persist at something I'm not good at
4. Dealing with my limitations as someone with cerebral palsey
5. Struggling with perfectionism
6. Setting lofty goals for myself
7. Pushing the limits
On Setting Lofty Goals
Setting lofty goals is a symptom of perfectionism. Part of being a perfectionist is setting yourself up oftentimes for failure, something which while part of life, is considered a non-option for most perfectionists since failure flies in the face of perfectionsim and all that it stands for. When I set a goal, I often don't have the proper timeframe to achieve those goals. Every summer I make a list for myself of the things I want to acomplish or the books I want to read and I usually complete only half the list as well as only half of the books read. Setting lofty goals motivates me and propells me forward in life but it has the downside of having a large probability for error without margin for any, causing both frustration and anxiety. Combining lofty goals with a tendency for perfectionism creates a difficult situation because in the process of completing such goals, its impossible not to make mistakes or have some degree of failure because that's what life is about; its far from perfect.
Heather,
ReplyDeleteYou're describing such a classic example of perfectionism--its evil ways and torturous results. I almost feel like I want to read an "On Perfectionism" paragraph too. Where does that tendency come from? What does it make you do? Does it pertain to all areas of life? If life isn't perfect, why do we act as if could be? It's also interesting because what I detected in your early drafts was a kind of celebration of non-perfectionism, a kind of powerful embrace of failure or even an attempt to redefine failure itself. I didn't see you as setting out for perfection, I saw it much more as you flying in the face of perfection.
Megan