I am quoting here from a Psychology Today piece titled, "Embrace Your Imperfections: Free Yourself from the Need to be Perfect" (which you can access by clicking on this hyperlinked text).

"Do you have impossibly high standards for yourself—and maybe for others?"

"Do you beat yourself up when you make even a small mistake?"

"Do you find it hard to relax and do things just for fun?"

"Do you avoid trying new things because you might embarrass yourself?"

"Do you believe your worth is based on how much you accomplish and what others think of you?"

If you answered yes any of these questions, it is likely the case that your drive to be perfect is doing more harm than good. Us humans are hard on ourselves. We are our own worse critics. If a friend was as hard on themselves as we are on ourselves, we would sooth and comfort that friend and urge them to cut themselves some slack.

We can do the best we can but we will never be perfect and that is okay. I am urging you all to give yourselves a break. Be kind to yourself. Accept the fact that you are not perfect. The secret is out! We are all imperfect and flawed. It's not possible to produce the perfect paper, blog post, VoiceThread comment or essay. In fact, if you are recording your VoiceThreads multiple times, trying to make them perfect...STOP! Prepare, record, save and let it go. Look at my lectures--they are far from perfect. I prepare, record, save and move on. I struggle sometimes with moving on and letting it go and not being hard on myself but I could record each lecture 3 or 4 times and still not be completely happy with it.

For some tips on how to get off the perfection highway, check out the Psychology Today article quoted above (by clicking on this hyperlinked text) and/or check out one of the pieces below: