Strive for Excellence, Not Perfection Don't misunderstand me by thinking that I encouraged Kristen to settle for laziness and mediocrity. Quite the contrary, I encouraged her to strive for excellence. But first she needed to be free to be herself and to achieve more balance in her life between work and play, accomplishments and relationships. This enabled her not only to feel better about herself, but also to focus on what was most important to her and to her family. The key to her success was that she focused on doing an excellent job in what was most important to her.
Perfectionists often have great trouble with focusing on priorities.
They need to learn not to obsess about minor details, not to get compulsive about things that are irrelevant or of secondary importance, but to instead focus on putting their heart into the things that are most important. By taking a step back from her life to think about her activity level and her lifestyle and then to reprioritize Kristen was able to make some adjustments. She learned to spend less time dressing herself and her kids and more time relaxing and talking with them at the dinner table. She decided that being Scout Master and Assistant Soccer coach weren't as important to her as being involved in her church and her kids' school. If you're a perfectionist, you too can defeat perfectionism before it defeats you.