Do you ever feel like your high standards leave you feeling stressed? That your ambition causes you to beat yourself up for not being good enough or for achieving enough? Do you struggle to relax and switch off?
If so, you might suffer with perfectionism. It’s a common trait in ambitious and achievement oriented women. It can leave us holding ourselves to impossibly high standards.
Whilst we may have been led to believe that perfectionism is a honourable quality, many of us know from personal experience that it can suck the joy out of life and leave us feeling exhausted. Unfortunately it can actually get in the way of us succeeding and negatively impact our relationships, work and health.
My latest podcast guest is an expert on perfectionism and is here to help you if you suffer from it. Michaela Thomas founder of The Thomas Connection is a senior clinical psychologist and a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Psychotherapist. She has a huge amount of experience in supporting people, particularly working mums, with perfectionism and I’d delighted that she’s going to sharing her wisdom with us on this episode.
In this episode Michaela shares:
- Her definition of perfectionism and the difference between striving for perfectionism and being a perfectionist [06.03]
- The impact of striving for perfectionism [07.01]
- How to live with high standards [8.43]
- The difference between helpful and unhelpful perfectionism [10:55]
- The ABC model of perfectionist behaviour – a framework to consider the impact of perfectionism [11:50]
- The common symptoms of perfectionism including the emotional, behavioural and cognitive impact [12:33]
- The cocktail of perfectionism and motherhood; how becoming a mum with perfectionist tendencies can be difficult [16:40]
- How perfectionism can show up in diverse ways in people’s lives [31:10]
- How perfectionism can show up differently for men and women [33:39]
- Her reassuring advice if we experience perfectionist tendencies [37:52]
Don’t forget to download the worksheet that Michaela created to help you overcome your perfectionist tendencies. Submit your details below to receive the free worksheet!
Links in this episode:
- Michaela’s website
- Michaela’s Facebook page
- Michaela’s LinkedIn profile
- Michaela’s Instagram page
- Michaela’s retreat information
References in episode:
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