The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect

...and beginning the work of becoming yourself.

This is a Good Point. I have now heard of Anna Quindlen, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and best selling author. (It must be pretty galling that someone hadn't heard of you when you've achieved so much)

Looking at the state of my office, many, especially Peter, would doubt my assertion that I'm a perfectionist.

N.B. This is not my office. I can tell because there are no ciabatta crumbs on the desk.

I'm a perfectionist about my writing, though. That's good and bad.

Good because I'm always striving and get good results that my clients appreciate so I get more and more commissions. Bad because I'm always striving and my good results are rarely good enough for me which makes me strive some more and exist in a permanent state of frustration or anxiety or self-doubt, driven by fear of failure.

I don't ever want to stop striving.

I do want to stop giving myself such a hard time.

The thing is...HOW?

Well, I could JUST STOP IT.