B+s, not A+s

One of the greatest pieces of advice I’ve heard lately has stayed with me for almost a month now. But first, a little background:

Being a recovering perfectionist, I’ve known to struggle with doing everything & doing it all by myself with no errors. Asking for help was viewed as weakness & my high & lofty goals were always unattainable. Coupled with OCD & you can imagine the internal torment I was constantly in. As much as I would try my best, I would painfully fall short & blame no one but myself. I would swear it would be different “next time” & the cycle would continue. This is the dark side of this beast.

However, things have changed. I’m proud to say that I’m a “recovering perfectionist.” Just like someone who’s working through their addictions, there will be times where I stumble, but I’m still on the right path. And all it took was a simple line someone said to me…

We’re not shooting for perfection here. Nobody can get A+s in every area of their life. It’s not humanly possible. We’re shooting for Bs or B-s, not A+s.

Holy shit. That’s it. I know others will shoot for Cs or Ds or barely passing. Whatever – that is their prerogative. I know me. I can’t do B- or B. But I can do B+ or maybe A- on a rare day. And that’s all I need to do. Just like a test, the grade is done & we move on to the next chapter.

So maybe I don’t 20 things done but I do get 17. I still kicked ass. And maybe I didn’t make it to the gym but I did eat a salad. Way to go, SC. There are plenty of little wins like that in my day & I’m sure in your day too. Even typing this out today – I don’t feel like it’s an A+ but it’s a B+ for me. And that still puts me on the honor roll without killing myself. 🙂