Self Care Monday

The Antidote - Your Weekly Remedy

Nobody’s perfect, but that’s never stopped me from trying 🙃.

Now if you’re reading this, raise your hand if you're a perfectionist! 🙋‍♀️ I feel you. I'm the queen of setting impossibly high standards for myself. Gotta have the perfect grades, perfect body, perfect life!

But let’s be honest… that kind of thinking is setting us up for major anxiety.

Perfectionism is an admirable quality, but taken too far, it can lead to anxiety and paralysis. As women, we often hold ourselves to impossibly high standards, striving for flawless grades, appearances, relationships - an idyllic life. But this relentless pursuit of perfection comes at a cost.

The voice inside telling us we're not good enough is perfectionism anxiety rearing its ugly head. This condition has us terrified of mistakes and falling short, rendering us frozen and unable to start tasks or achieve goals. How does such paralysis serve our growth?

Of course, flawlessness is appealing. But the constant pressure to be perfect is far from a walk in the park, leading to excessive self-criticism, fear of failure, and heightened stress. True, we wish to emulate role models like Beyonce. But we must accept that a flawless life exists only in our wildest dreams.

Progress necessitates self-compassion, allowing room for missteps and growth. To thrive, we must release the crippling need for perfection and focus instead on fulfillment.

Try this: begin a passion project for enjoyment rather than praise. Savor the process, imperfections and all. Your mind and body require rest, not relentless striving. Stumbles are inevitable on one's journey.

We are multifaceted women, not one-dimensional archetypes. Let us shed perfectionism anxiety and embrace our complexity. Our only real failure is letting fear impede our potential. Say it with me sisters: "I am beautifully imperfect and that is my superpower!"

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Monday Mantra

Your Monday Mantra to start this week is: 

I create my own path and walk it with joy.

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Song of the Week: Is It Over Now - Taylor Swift