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Many artists experience perfectionism, including myself. In fact, this may be a longer blog than usual because my perfectionism seems to be getting in the way of editing this down. Perfectionism is a thought process that actually prevents us from starting our creative work, acting on our dreams or taking risks in our lives that can fuel our growth. If we are even able to start something, often perfectionism stops us dead in our tracks as we begin second-guessing and diminishing our budding efforts in the relentless pursuit of the often unattainable results we are after. The results we seek can seem truly monumental, a grand vision, a huge self-imposed expectation. This alone sets us up for struggle and potential defeat – we literally don’t have much of a chance of making any progress towards our goals. If instead we could allow ourselves to simply make small, incremental steps towards our goals for ourselves, for our art, we would recognize that we’re actually getting things done, and we’re getting feedback along the way that can help us. The idea of beginning a painting – or a project – and knowing the outcome and all the necessary twists and turns along the way is flawed and burdens us with a fixed approach, rather than a growth-focussed one. As Marie Forleo says in her book, ‘Everything is Figureoutable’, we succeed and grow when we focus on progress over perfection. When we bring awareness to our approach to making our art, we can begin to notice and work with our tendencies rather than against them – even use our perfectionism as a powerful tool for making progress. If perfectionism is stopping you from either beginning or moving forward in your creative work, then what I have discovered through my research, by working with coaching clients, and in my own experience of being a self-proclaimed perfectionist, may be helpful.
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