I’ve never identified myself as an overachiever. I would definitely describe myself as driven, motivated, goal oriented, and even a little Type A – but not an overachiever.
Until I read 5 Mistakes That Cause Overachievers to Fail by Jennifer Gresham on Everyday Bright.
Unfortunately, I’m becoming very familiar with these failures Jennifer references in this post. Too familiar. And I would venture to guess that many nonprofit staffers feel the same – we’re all passionate people or we wouldn’t be in this field. When does passion go too far?
I have been incredibly stressed out lately. Yes, I’ve had a lot of life changes in the past few months – moving, new job, new grad school program… but still, something more has been tugging at me. Something beyond the usual nerves of something new. Something more substantial.
I read this post and realized – that’s it. I’m an overachiever. My overachiever self is going crazy trying to balance all these new parts of my life and do them all perfectly.
I’m spending a lot of time worrying about what others think. I want to impress my colleagues, look smart to my cohort/professor, and fit in perfectly with my new community. I want to be the perfect employee, friend, and girlfriend. I want to achieve perfection in every aspect of my life.
Instead of inspiring me, these goals are causing me to be anxious almost all of the time. I’m worried about balancing it all and being perfect all at the same time. I’ve realized I’ve become obsessed with this idea of being good at everything. Not just good – great.
When I had just one or two things going on, it was doable. I would say I was a pretty great employee and girlfriend back where we used to live. But now we’ve moved and I’ve added on student and family member… with a brand new job that demands more… and less time to be a great girlfriend… clearly, my perfectionist self is in overdrive. How can I make this happen??
I can’t.
What I can make happen is doing the best I can at everything I do. And knowing that’s good enough.
It’s better than good enough – it’s perfect.
-N.C.
Good for you, Chapin! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Rob! It’s definitely something I need to work through.
The Amish have a custom of intentionally making a mistake in every otherwise perfect quilt they make
They say that only God is perfect,
And there’s wisdom for our lives in that,
Sometimes the best thing that we can be is perfectly imperfect.
Catherine
Foresight
Beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Hmmmm. I can think of a close family member (or 2) with the same tendency. Aunt Justine
Haha! Yes, and one of them is a very close family member… 😉
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