As a Life Coach and fellow mama, I believe in finding calmness amid life's challenges. Join me as we ditch the pursuit of perfection and dive into the joy of being perfectly imperfect. Explore the freedom of not always doing your best, and uncover the beauty of change and growth. Tune into this episode to transform your approach to motherhood and prioritise your wellbeing.
If you're craving more support, check out the Calm Resilient Mama Project, my 1-on-1 coaching program.
Transcript:
“Welcome to the Calm Resilient Mama Podcast. I’m Cindy Graham-Schmidt. I’m a Life Coach and mama of two. On this podcast I share with you coaching tools and tips to help you deal with challenges that life and motherhood throw at you. I will help you to enjoy your life more TODAY, because tomorrow isn’t promised to anyone.
Hey mama,
How are you?
Today I want to talk about embracing imperfections, because I believe we’re all perfectly imperfect and there’s no point in striving for perfection, because there’s no such thing. I’ve even taught my 7 year old that “perfect” just doesn’t exist, because everyone has their own idea of what they consider to be perfect and what isn’t.
Now why does this all matter to you? Well I want this episode to be your permission slip to NOT do your best; to not try to get everything done from your to-do-list while already thinking ahead about the other 5 things that you forgot to put on your to-do-list. I want to help you to take the pressure off yourself and not strive to be the perfect mum, the perfect partner or the perfect friend.
Take a deep breath in and a very slow breath out. What would it feel like to not always be “switched on”? What would it feel like to let things go? What would it feel like to not do your best and to just put in the minimum effort for today?
Could that be ok? Would the world still keep turning? Would it allow you to take a breath and maybe even a break? Would that might even feel freeing?
I’d love for you to give it a try and see what it would actually look like and, more importantly, feel like in your body to not constantly do your best in everything you do. Try to let things be without shaming yourself or guilt tripping yourself in just doing this one more thing. Instead, try on the thought “I have done enough for now.” or “It’s ok to not always do my best.”
What do you feel like when you try on those thoughts? Does it stress you out, because you can’t actually believe them to be true? Does it feel relaxing or freeing even?
Because this is a podcast, I can’t talk with you and know what it might actually feel like for you. However, you’re more than welcome to message me and let me know what it feels like for you. Or you can take out a journal and reflect on your answers and how it all feels in your body.
Either way, it’ll give you a good insight on how hard or easy it is for you to let go of perfectionism, and it’ll give you an opportunity to practise having compassion for yourself.
I myself am a recovering perfectionist and found it really hard to let go of things and even now, there are things that I could possibly let go but I don’t because my brain tells me that only I can do certain things best. It can be hard to let go of “control”, because if we do things our self than we know that they get done the way we want and like them to get done, but that doesn’t mean that other ways of doing things wouldn’t work. Things don’t have to be perfect to be good.
Sometimes it can be good to let other people step up; to even give them the chance to step up; and do things their way even if it’s not done “your” way. That could help you to lighten your mental load.
Sometimes it can be good to drop something from your to-do-list even if you think it should be done. Who knows, it might turn out to be an opportunity to change a habit or routine or schedule and you end up finding an even better way to do things.
Sometimes it can be good if something went wrong or other than expected or if someone makes a mistake, because it can be an opportunity to learn something that you might’ve not learned or even considered otherwise.
Nothing is perfect and no one is perfect and I’d like to invite you to be ok with that and maybe even embrace it, because it can be an opportunity to learn and grow.
Our society and even we, ourselves, can put a lot of pressure on us to do it all, to have it all, to be it all and to get everything right, ideally the first time we ever try. It’s impossible and makes us feel stressed, overwhelmed, overworked and not focus on the things that really matter to us. It makes us go through the motions every day without considering our wellbeing, our joy and potentially even our loved ones.
Let’s change that one step, one day at a time. Life is perfectly imperfect and therefore gives us plenty of opportunities to learn and grow, if we can embrace imperfections and change.
Again, I’d like this episode to be your permission slip to take pressure of yourself and not always do your best. Come back to what really matters to you and notice how it feels in your body to embrace imperfections and change and mistakes even. Let life be messy, unpredictable and perfectly imperfect, just like we all are.
And if you want help with that, check out my 1-on-1 coaching program, the Calm Resilient Mama Project, because having someone in your corner can help you to focus and take it one step at a time without the pressure of perfectionism and even when life feels full and hectic.
That’s it from me for now. Take care and I talk to you next time .”