Today we have a blog post from one of our Master’s level interns, Hannah Wise, about letting go of perfectionism in the new year. She shares helpful and mindful practices to overcome perfectionism.
Hannah feels a drive to help others reconnect with themselves and their bodies through mutual empathy, authenticity, and vulnerability.
She values the therapeutic relationship and sees it as a vehicle to deliver connection and healing. By creating a collaborative environment with clients, Hannah establishes a safe space for recovery and realignment.
Hannah believes that all bodies are beautiful and worthy. By reconnecting and honoring their bodies, clients can pull from internal strengths and skills to tackle the challenges and trials of everyday life. Hannah is honored and excited to walk along this journey of healing with her clients.
How to Let Go of Overachieving and Perfectionism in the New Year
The start of a new year is often filled with resolutions and lofty goals. While a new year and a fresh start can be inspiring, there’s a fine line between striving for excellence and setting unsustainable standards that leave you feeling burnt out and unfulfilled.
Overachieving and perfectionism can drain your energy and joy, preventing you from fully celebrating the successes you do achieve.
Rather than putting yourself back on the same hamster wheel you get caught in each January, shift your mindset to focus on progression toward current goals, rather than absolute perfection.
When setting your goal, choose ones that will be challenging yet attainable. Bonus points if you can have others support you in reaching those goals.
In this post, I will outline some steps for you to take to make your new year a time for reflection and mindfulness in pursuing your goals rather than chasing perfectionism.
Set Goals that Reflect Your Values
You may feel pulled to set goals or “new year’s resolutions” that feel good on paper but may not align with your core values. When our goals align with our values, they feel more authentic and fulfilling, which reduces the pressure to achieve for the sake of outside validation.
For example, a common new year’s resolution is to lose weight. For some people, this is a great goal that aligns with their value system; however, there are others that set this goal because of societal expectations and ideals around our bodies. This can quickly lead to burnout and further dissatisfaction.
So, when you pick your goals, I encourage you to first think about what’s important to you and use your values to guide your formulation of any new year’s goals you may have.
And if you want to skip out on making any new year’s resolutions, that’s wonderful! Maybe you still have goals from this past year that you’re working on. Fabulous! Stay with those goals.
At the end of the day, you’ll be most satisfied when you allow your values to guide your choices and goals.
Stay Present: Progress over Perfection
Staying present and intentional with your goals can help you celebrate incremental progress. As a society, we are very outcome oriented, which isn’t wrong or bad, but it can lead us to ignore or miss the milestones we achieve as we move toward our end goal. As a result, we may feel discouraged along the way.
To combat this tendency, at the end of each week, write down 1-3 things that you accomplished toward achieving your goal. Yes, write down even the smallest wins. Those wins or milestones matter and deserve to be celebrated! They’re bringing you one step closer to your ultimate goal.
Embrace Imperfection as an Opportunity
Perfectionism thrives on the fear of failure. If we never allow ourselves to fail, we deprive ourselves any opportunity to learn or at the very least prove to ourselves that we can overcome obstacles and maybe even use them to our advantage.
Some of the greatest companies, books, and innovations of our time were born out of failure, lack of resources, or economic downturn. Sometimes when the going gets tough, some of the best opportunities are available to us if we can open our eyes to them.
It’s okay to feel discouraged, confused, or hopeless. Use those emotions to fuel your creativity in overcoming failure or obstacles. You are capable of so much more than you realize even in the face of adversity.
Overachieving and perfectionism don’t have to dominate your life in 2025.
By prioritizing your values, progress over perfection, and opportunities in setbacks, you will build a healthier and more sustainable path to success.
This year, I encourage you to celebrate any and all growth, embrace balance and rest, and give yourself the gift of compassion and grace you so readily extend to others. Here’s to a lighter, more fulfilling new year!
If you would like to learn more about releasing overachieving and perfectionism, I encourage you to read The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday. Holiday provides excellent examples of leaders and forward thinkers who were able to release overachieving and lean into setbacks as opportunities for growth and provides practical tools for how to build those skills in your own life.
Finally, I’ll leave you with this mantra: “Have the courage to be beautifully imperfect.”
You got this!
Hannah
We hope you found Hannah’s insights on perfectionism helpful. If her message resonated with you, this could be the perfect time to take meaningful steps towards your healing and peace. To initiate your work with Hannah, please feel free to call our office at 615.510.3797 or click here to learn more.
Hannah will also be co-leading our new Anchor Your Anxiety: Anxiety Support for Women therapeutic group. This six week group is for adult women who want to get support and skills to manage their anxiety.
This support group will teach you how anxiety functions and give you practical skills to shift your relationship to your anxiety. You will also have the opportunity to connect with others who understand how you feel.
We will be meeting at our Brentwood office every Wednesday, starting January 22nd to February 26th from 5-6:30 PM. The group is $150 for the six weeks.
This space will be a time to nurture yourself, build community connection, and support your mental health. If you are interested and would like to join or learn more, please email [email protected]
