4 Reasons Perfectionism and Overthinking Are Stifling Your Success

Hey Friend!

The more I get to know my students and the more I participate in masterminds with my peers the more I’m starting to comprehend the overarching problem and prevalence of one, perfectionism, and two, overthinking. As I watch people struggle with these 2 things, I’m seeing clearly see how it stifles success.

Perfectionism keeps us in a place of constant consumption and learning. Redoing things over and over and thinking that we can’t move forward until they measure up to some elusive standard. Overthinking is similar but in a different way.

• It is going round and round thinking is this good enough?
• It is worrying about what others are going to think about me.
• It is wondering if I’m not doing things the right way.
• It is thinking should things be this way or that?

There’s so much swirling that it hinders us from actually taking action, moving forward, and ultimately finding success. In order to have success, we have to have ONE thing, action. And then, of course, all the other things after that, consistency, discipline, and optimization.

You chose this life, friend. Being an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart. It takes:

• Energy
• Effort
• Resilience
• Will
• Discipline

But it’s so worth it! I promise you can do this if you just let go of the old habits that hinder you. In this blog post, we’re going to talk about 2 things, perfectionism, and overthinking. I’m going to share with you 4 reasons these are actually stifling, and hurting your success. And we’ll talk about what you can do about it. Let’s dig in.

The Traps of Perfectionism and Overthinking

I know how exciting it is to start a new project. Anything new for me is so motivating. Maybe you’re ready to launch a podcast, start a course or you’re beginning to coach. But because it’s new or maybe because you have a certain personality type, you really want this to be perfect.

You want whatever it is to be successful so much that you might unknowingly rob yourself and your business of success because you’re falling into the traps of perfectionism and overthinking. I really think that they are traps. Why? They cause you:

• To Get Stuck
• To Procrastinate
• Ultimately Hurt Your Retention and Conversion Rates

So let’s talk about why I believe these are hurting you and what you can actually do to overcome them. That’s the big struggle, right? How can you avoid getting stuck in the traps of perfectionism and overthinking?

Reason 1: Perfectionism and Overthinking Stifle Creativity

The first reason perfectionism and overthinking are hurting your success is that they stifle creativity. Creativity is essential when it comes to being a great podcaster.

• Coming up With Ideas
• Allowing Those Ideas to Flow and Flourish
• Thinking About an Offer Like Coaching or Courses

What happens is that perfectionism and overthinking trap you inside your own head. Making it basically impossible for you to come up with new ideas. Right? Because you’re going to swirl, overthink, compare, and redo. It’s not giving you that creative liberty to test and to try and permission to fail.

Take a Step Back and Let Your Mind and Your Spirit Rest

So the solution to this is to take a step back and let your mind and your spirit rest. If you find your creativity stifled, like you don’t know what to create, you don’t know what episode to put out, you don’t know how to even start this project. If you find yourself in perfectionism or overthinking, you’re probably in one of these traps.

Set aside maybe 30 minutes, to have a moment with yourself and with God. Journal over this. What I like to do is journal out what‘s the worst thing that can happen for me to push through this anyway? We want to break free of that block so that we can move forward. Journal, take a step back and just have a moment to rest. Get rejuvenated and then come back to the table and push through into your creativity.

Reason 2: Perfectionism and Overthinking Lead To Procrastination

The second reason perfectionism and overthinking are hurting your success is that they lead to procrastination. When you’re constantly overthinking and trying to make something perfect, it’s easy to procrastinate. You’re gonna delay.

You may take long breaks, you may put off the task until the last minute, because ultimately you’re afraid of failure. Let’s call it what it is. Procrastination hurts you as an online business owner. Why? Until you move forward and have a little bit of failure and have some data under your belt, you can’t optimize.

Break Down Tasks Into Small, Manageable Mini-Steps

I believe the solution here is to break down your tasks into small, manageable mini-steps. Then commit to completing the first step. After you complete that step, commit to completing the next one. And the next one. Take it one step at a time.

Once you see progress, you’re gonna start to create momentum that’s gonna help you keep going. I also think that gives you the confidence in yourself to not overthink things so much and not hold yourself to such a high standard because you’re seeing results that are moving you forward.

Reason 3: Perfectionism and Overthinking Cause You to Underestimate Your Talents

The third reason perfectionism and overthinking are hurting your success is that they cause you to underestimate your talents. These traps get you to believe you have to be the best before you can ever get started. It creates this belief that maybe you’re not good enough, that somebody’s going to judge you, that you’re going to fail. When you hold on to those beliefs, it gives you a lack of confidence and you underestimate yourself.

Find Ways to Build Your Confidence

The solution here, friend, is to find ways to build your confidence. I want to suggest a few different ways you can do this.

• Take Action: The first way is to just take action. Once you show yourself you can do something, you raise the lid a little bit. I’ve talked about that a lot on the show.
  
• Create a Support Network: The second way to build your confidence is to create a support network of people who are encouraging. People who are gonna be in your corner, who are going to lift you up when you’re having a moment. I recommend setting up a peer-led mastermind group. I’ve had mine for a couple of years. We can get on Voxer and whine and cry to each other and then get a swift kick in the pants and get back to work.
  
• Read Personal Development Books: The third way to build your confidence is to read personal development books. Get in the Bible, listen to podcasts, and then identify your strengths.
  
• Serve People Where You’ve Been: The fourth way to build your confidence, and I tell my students this all the time, is to remember that you’re creating your podcast and your brand and your business, not to serve people where you are, but to serve people where you’ve been.

Allow Yourself to Have the Freedom to Get Started

Do it messy. Honestly, I was able to build a multi-six-figure business on my own. And quite frankly, it was with busted branding that I had done myself on a website I had put together. It really wasn’t the best. Now I know better. But at the time I was like, this is fine, it’s great.

I don‘t have the perfectionism gene. I think it helps me and it also hurts me in some ways, but I was able to move forward and actually have a profitable business piecing things together. There are some things that I will recommend to you when you join Podcast to Profit that I think are non-negotiable. Things you should invest in and get it done right. And then there are some things that I’m like, okay, this is fine, you can start here and then level in a little bit.

If you underestimate yourself, you’re not gonna show up for it. You’re gonna continue to wait. You’re gonna continue to feel less than others and not move. This is super critical that you break free from that.

Reason 4: Perfectionism and Overthinking Make the Decision-Making Process Really Difficult

The fourth reason perfectionism and overthinking are hurting your success is that it makes the decision-making process really difficult. Believe it or not, all of you are CEOs, congratulations! As a CEO, you are a business owner. If you’re gonna be a CEO, you are going to have to make decisions.

Let’s be honest, you’re on your own. Like when you started this whole thing, you were on your own. You are making decisions like:

• What Software to Use
• Investing in a Course
• Hiring a Coach
• Color Schemes
• Content Creation

Life is full of these decisions. There’s nobody telling you what to do anymore. Which is what you wanted but it does come with responsibilities. It’s unavoidable that you’re gonna have to make decisions. Perfectionism and overthinking are going to make this process really hard for you because you’re worried, right? Am I gonna make the wrong choice? Am I gonna do something that won’t appeal to my listeners or future customers?

The fear of making mistakes is so paralyzing that it can even cause you to miss opportunities. Some of the biggest opportunities for me have come from asking. They have come from trying and showing up even when I didn’t feel adequate.

So often, I still don’t feel adequate. I don’t feel like I deserve to be somewhere. But I have to make the decision to show up because if God’s opened the door I’m gonna walk through it. And so should you.

Reframe How You Think About Mistakes

The solution here is to reframe how you think about mistakes. Instead of looking at them as failures and people judging you or you beating yourself up, look at them as opportunities for growth to learn, to get better, and to optimize.

I would never be sitting here today with all the crazy success the show and business have had, and the amazing team that I have, if I hadn’t made so many mistakes along the way. If I had been overthinking everything and trying to make it perfect before taking action, I wouldn’t have been able to make the mistakes that ultimately led me to this beautiful learning process that landed me here.

I want you to know that you can overcome these traps. I truly believe that you are called by God. You’re equipped by Him, and you have everything that you need to show up and start. You may not have everything that you need to get to the end goal yet, but you have enough to start. That‘s all you need, because, with God, anything is possible, right?

Don’t Let Perfectionism and Overthinking Hinder Your Success

How can you work through these perfectionism and overthinking patterns and traps that you find yourself in? Try working through some of the solutions I’ve talked about in this post. I don’t want you to be hindered or your success delayed because you’re procrastinating. I don’t want you to underestimate yourself and not make quick decisions. It can stifle your creativity.

There’s freedom from this but it takes work and intentionality. I encourage my students to show up, put their heads down, and consistently push forward. Do the work, not perfect but to the best of your ability and follow a proven plan. I have just the plan for you at StefanieGass.com/school. Put one foot in front of the other and then trust God with the rest of it.

Perfectionism and Overthinking Are Selfish

If you look up and allow yourself to worry about what the other person thinks you will make zero progress. I’m going to be really frank with you. You were created in the image of God to be His hands and feet. You were created to be salt and light. Not moving forward is actually selfish. It’s a protection mechanism for you and it’s hurting the people you were called to help.

• God Has Perfectly Chosen People for You
• He’s Given You a Message
• He’s Given You Trials and Experiences
• Things You Are Meant to Bring to the World

It’s the enemy who tries to trick you with perfectionism and overthinking and all these other little things that he puts before you. Instead of leaning on them, I want to encourage you to push through them. Be completely unavailable for those traps.

I have my own traps that I work through, but I push through them daily and I consistently show up, Even when it’s really uncomfortable. Somebody wise told me last week about something else in my life that is, you know, a trap for me.

She said, lean into it! It’s like everything inside of you is gonna tell you to pull back, to wall up, to push away. Lean in. Lean into that discomfort. Go there and then watch how quickly your comfort zone will expand. You’re gonna be able to weather it. And man, she was right.

I wanted to pass that wisdom on to you and hope that it will encourage you, bless you, and stretch you today.

I pray this blesses you!

Xo,

Stef

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