If you consider yourself a polished performer but secretly dread making “mistakes”…

If you feel paralyzed to start writing until the conditions are “just right” (or a midnight deadline forces you to start at 11:00pm) …

Or if you can never finish a painting because you obsess over details…

Then you might be doing battle with the inner beast known as—

PERFECTIONISM!

What’s worse is you might not even know it’s happening. And it’s killing your chances of real creative success.

In this episode of Art You Crazy, we are waging an all-out war against the perfectionism monster!

We’ll tell you

• what it is,
• where it comes from,
• how it shows up in your creative life (and just your life-life)…but best of all...
• what you can do about it (before you end up like Natalie Portman in Black Swan).

We’re arming ourselves with proven methods from science, psychology, and self-compassion to kill perfectionism once and for all…

So gird your loins, press play, and join us on an epic quest to slay this dragon!

TOPICS:

00:00 - Introduction

05:14 - How Mel, Tessie and Erin wrestle with perfectionism

09:30 - What is “perfectionism?”

10:11 - 2 types of perfectionism

10:59 - 10 common traits of perfectionism

16:16 - Cultivating a “f*ck it” attitude

20:45 - Examples of perfectionism in different creative fields

26:35 - The true cost of perfectionism

28:38 - Erin’s low self-esteem and indecision

29:34 - Where does perfectionism come from?

33:53 - Tessie, Mel and Erin’s personal roots of perfectionism

40:16 - Handling emotions as a “perfectionist”

48:07 - When perfectionism has blocked our own creative goals

53:50 - 6 simple shifts to overcome perfectionism

59:33 - Wrap-up

RESOURCES from this Episode:

READING:

Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy by Dr. David D. Burns, M.D.

Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Dr. Kristin Neff, Ph.D.

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck, Ph.D.

The Mastery of Life: A Toltec Guide to Personal Freedom by don Miguel Ruiz Jr.

LISTENING:

Binaural Beats [for pushing past mental blockers in your creative work, check out tracks in the Mind Power category, especially “Flow State,” “Creativity Boost,” and “Super Brain Power”]

LofiGirl: lofi hip hop radio - beats to relax/study to

A Lofi Soul: Upbeat Lofi - Deep Focus & Energy for Work [R&B, Neo Soul, Lofi Hiphop]

TOOLS & SUPPLIES:

Intelligent Change Productivity Planner (Quarterly Edition) [teaches a system for setting S.M.A.R.T. goals]