Beware of Becoming Obsessed with Perfection

In the world of fitness, it’s easy to compare your speed, skill, stamina, strength, and physique to others. Even if you are 50lbs lighter than you were, you’ll still manage to find more things to complain about, and more things to fix, despite your victory.

It’s like buying, what my family calls, a “fixerupper” – a home that needs a lot of work. At first, you see the major stuff that needs to be fixed. You’ll even convince yourself that the house will be perfect if you can just fix those few major things. But, after you fix the obvious, you’ll begin to uncover a million other things that aren’t necessarily broken, but that could be better.

If you’re not careful, your innocent excitement will turn into obsession. While you are in the remodeling process, you’ll read more books, watch more home improvement shows, and make more mental notes on your friends and neighbors’ homes too – comparing your house to the BEST features from all the BEST houses. Before you know it, you’ve spent 10 years of your life fixating on all its imperfections, constantly comparing your house to other houses, and never really enjoying your home. Sound familiar?

We tend to treat our body the same way. At first we are consumed with the obvious, like our weight. Then we begin to pick our body apart, reading every fitness magazine, gazing at every “perfect” body, and always comparing ourself to the next guy – to the point we never just enjoy our new better “home”.

Once you give yourself a little break, you can enjoy making small improvements without obsessing over perfection. For some, that means looking a little better. For others, it means feeling a little better. Or, if you’re like me, being a little better just means fighting age, and the natural deterioration our body goes through when we neglect it – being a little better than than the average 41 year old sitting on the couch and eating pizza. Because it’s not like I can trade this model in on a new perfect one. So “better” will have to do.  🙂