Ever since I was in high school, I’ve had a perfectionist’s mindset. Anything that I chose to learn, I would always want to be able to understand the most elemental way in which it works. This may seem like a narcissistic thing, but being a lazy perfectionist means that you never get around to doing anything because you haven’t completed your last “project” successfully or as completely as you would have liked, or that what you’re currently trying to grasp or do seems too hard or that you’re miserable at it. It keeps itching your brain and you need to get used to the itch before you can move on to the next thing.

This mindset has had it’s share of negative side effects, largely revolving around procrastination and whiling away time doing useless shit. I just wanted to talk about how I went through changes(I’m still going through these changes, but it took me a while to get started because of, you guessed it, the procrastination), especially in the way I think about the work that I do or the comprehension I have of some concept I’m having a hard time with.

The first stage in change is acceptance. If you think you need to change, you need to acknowledge and accept the fact that you are a perfectionist. This makes it easier for you to analyse yourself from a third person’s shoes and see what changes you need to make.

The second stage is change. This is probably the most difficult and definitely the most rewarding. Change varies from person to person, but has the same blueprint. Whenever you want to give up on something that you think you won’t be able to fully comprehend, think “What if I’m close and I just don’t know it? What if I just have one more step? Even if this is difficult, time is all I need to give it and it’ll become easier.” Push through it, however you feel comfortable(Although the idea is specifically NOT to feel comfortable and go through the problem for a while).

The third stage is repetition. Make it a habit to constantly push yourself just a little more. Stuff gets easier the more time and effort you put into it. This stage brings long lasting satisfaction and better reward. In a weirdly meta way, you have to break being a perfectionist in order to start stopping being a perfectionist.

If you’ve read this far, congratulations! You’ve made it past my first ever article online. Hope it helps!