Posted on March 31, 2011 by Levya Braman

This article is designed to help the perfectionist lighten up a bit and not take life too seriously. It  is also for those who tend to be perfectionists in one or more areas of their lives.

Have you ever been overwhelmed with too many choices? Been presented with great opportunities but been unable to decide which opportunity to take?

It’s common for perfectionists to come down with what I call temporary ‘perfection paralysis’ , or as we call it, being ‘stuck’.

Here are common symptoms of this condition:

• You begin gathering information to make your decision, but you are unable to leave this first step. Gathering information before making important decisions is a wise thing to do. But, if the information gathering stage never ends, it’s a sign that you may have this condition. If you often feel like you just need one more piece of info, and then one more after that and so on it will keep you from moving on to the actual decision-making step.

• You tend to put a lot of pressure on yourself to make the ‘right’ or ‘correct’ choice or decision. Soon this pressure becomes so heavy that you can’t move (forward). Your fear of failing or making the ‘wrong’ choice overcomes you; you would rather not decide than to make a ‘poor’ choice. You tend to see your choices as good, bad, or either-or, when in reality much of life is in the gray zone.

• You are extremely hard on yourself with your self-talk. Though you may have made numerous choices that turned out well, you skim over those only to remember the few that didn’t. You are quick to point out your flaws and lack of skill in the decision-making area.

So, if you are inflicted with perfection paralysis, what can you do about it?

Though you might be genetically predisposed to this condition (you may have a parent with it) you don’t have to suffer from it as an adult (unless you want to).

The good news is that by working with a coach you can learn to recognize which situations tend to lead to flare-ups. Then, you can learn techniques for controlling the self-talk that is so harmful for this condition.

So, the next time you are struck with perfection paralysis I hope that you nip it in the bud, at the first sign of symptoms, so you can get on with enjoying your life fully.