Hiya Mumma bear,

Are you a high achiever? Do you expect to be at your BEST all day, every day? Have you always set high expectations for yourself? Maybe a little, um, too high? Ahem,*raises hand*, guilty over here.

What does that little voice in your head say to you? No, you're not mad, we ALL have self talk going on in our brains. Is that self talk positive, trying to pep you up? Is it neutral? Or, most likely, is it the world's biggest bloody Negative Nancy?

See if you can catch what kind of self talk you have going on. Is it always reminding you of mistakes you've made? Berating you for not doing better? Maybe saying, well, you didn't deserve to get that award/promotion/recognition/love/support anyway because you're *insert negative label here*

Many, many, many people have a stream of negative self talk going on because we strive for perfection. In all the things. Hot tip, it's bloody impossible to be perfect at everything (or even ANYthing if we're being brutally honest here). And, spoiler alert, there is no such thing as the perfect Mum.

Oooh, ouch. That hurt's doesn't it?

Let's get real here, human beings are messy and emotional and confusing. And that's what makes us interesting and loveable and connected. Imagine if we were all perfect little robots, giving JUST the right amount of love (and not a teaspoon more), the exact amount of joy so as not to offend or upset anyone, the most correct amount of frustration. Geez, not only would we all be boring as batshit, but we'd all be THE SAME. Ugh.

It is out messiness and our imperfection that makes us who we are. Can we strive to grow and expand, to move towards the best version of ourselves? Of course we can! But attempting to achieve perfection is a recipe for disaster.

So, start tuning in to your own self talk. When you discover what's going on in your mind, subconsciously, you can choose to reset and embrace kindness to self. If you realise you are striving for perfection, ask yourself, why? What is behind this need to excel at everything? This need to present a perfect facade? Who are you trying to impress?

Then, consider where can you lower your expectations of yourself?

I'd love to hear if you too have been caught in the pursuit of perfectionism. Hit reply and let me know how you realised this...

Until next time,

Michelle

Flourish Mama