Stop Trying to Be Perfect

Stop Trying to Be Perfect

In modern society, there is a huge pressure to appear “perfect”. Your physical appearance, your grades, your personality, your social life, your relationships - the list goes on – they are all burdened by this unobtainable benchmark. It can feel as though there is no room for anything less than that perceived level of perfection in the 21st century.

Without even realising it, we can be swept up into this expectation, helped by the presence of social media. Social media platforms allow us to easily access reams of carefully curated images and videos from people whose lives may seem far better than ours, far more ‘put-together’ and perfect. However, it is important to remember that everything we see online is simply a snapshot of someone’s life. Nobody is perfect - and I truly mean nobody. The celebrity or influencer you are idolising does not have a perfect life. They simply choose to post the best parts online, just like so many of us do.

Life can start to feel overwhelming when you start to believe that every part of it must be picture-perfect. In fact, striving for perfection is often more damaging than beneficial. Of course, we all want to be the best versions of ourselves - it is important to draw a distinction between perfection and self-improvement. It is healthy to have goals and aspirations, to want to improve certain parts of our lives. But if you find yourself being obsessed with making every aspect of your life perfect, then I am here to let you know it is not only exhausting, it is a damaging process; one that will leave you feeling disappointed and unworthy, because it is impossible to do so.

Instead, be kind to yourself. Remind yourself it is okay to have off days and feel grumpy, it is okay to struggle with an assignment, it is okay to skip a workout and decide to watch Netflix instead. We are humans, and humans are not robots. Life can begin to feel so much more fulfilling when you live authentically, when you live in its raw, unedited, unfiltered way. Making the decision to stop trying to be perfect doesn’t mean you are giving up on working on yourself and fulfilling your ambitions. In fact, you are doing the opposite. It makes it easier to achieve your goals, because you feel less stressed and more energised to start that essay, to begin that workout, to try out that new hobby, because the pressure of doing it to an impossible standard is not there.

Once you decide to stop making perfection the end goal, life can start to become a lot more fun. You begin to feel more comfortable in your skin, and more comfortable that life does not always run smoothly. You are equipped with the realisation that, yes, things can and will go wrong, but this is part of the spontaneity of life. All the pressure of perfection is, is a heavy weight on your shoulders, something you only realise once you make the decision to remove it. So, make that decision now - remind yourself to stop trying to be perfect, and begin to live your life without this heavy burden.