Selective Overachieving
Are you being selective about when you overachieve?
Sometimes you might WANT to overachieve.
It might serve you. You might like your reasons.
But you don’t have to overachieve ALL. THE. TIME.
I want you to overachieve when you want to. Because it serves you. Because you like it in that particular situation.
The starting point?
Awareness + Compassion
Start figuring out your “why.”
Ask yourself:
Am I overachieving? If so, why am I overachieving here? In this moment? On this project, event, or thing? In this situation?
We overachieve because of the way we think it will feel. And, more importantly, because of the way we will feel if we don’t.
Because we don’t want to feel:
▫️ Guilty
▫️ Inferior
▫️ Disappointed
▫️ Worthless
▫️ Ashamed
▫️ Insignificant
▫️ Afraid
Because we want to feel:
▫️ Proud
▫️ Accepted
▫️ Worthy
▫️ Happy
▫️ Respected
▫️ Valued
▫️ Safe
While you’re figuring out your “why,” it is critical that you have compassion for yourself.
No blame allowed. Make your brain a safe space.
Of course you overachieve.
You’ve been taught to. In a million different ways. Implicitly and explicitly. Over and over again. Your brain thinks it is necessary for one reason or another.
And that doesn’t mean anything about you as a human being. Except that you are one.
And that’s it. That’s all I want you to do for now.
Practice your awareness and compassion.
Identify what is motivating you.
Identify what emotion it is you are trying to feel or not feel.
Breathe.
And then be nice to yourself.
Remind yourself that you are a human doing, thinking, and feeling human things.
If you want to intentionally change your overachieving perfectionist tendencies, start with being aware of when you are overachieving and why.
Simply being aware of why you are doing something starts creating shifts.
Then once you have that awareness, and you can observe yourself without judgment and without blame, you can start working towards intentional changes.
In fact, becoming aware of why you’re doing something and observing it with compassion for yourself, is probably new to you.
You’ve spent your whole life judging yourself.
Learning how to look at yourself with just a little less judgment itself might be just the shift you need.
A ❤️ note to you: If this resonated, and you’re ready to ditch the Perfectionist Overachiever title and everything that comes with it, I’m here to help. Just send me a DM or sign up for a free call with me at the Book an Appointment link in my bio.
