Inner Work: A Spiritual Growth Podcast

Perfectionism and hypervigilance are often maladaptive ways in which we've learned to stay safe in the world (or to at least try to stay safe). They're also patterns that we sometimes acquire in response to trauma, and to prevent a similar trauma or hurtful experience from happening again. The problem with these patterns is that they keep you so limited, living a tightly controlled life as you try to do everything perfectly - to BE perfect - and avoid making any mistakes. Some of the core symptoms of being stuck in perfectionism and hypervigilance include: difficulty settling down after activity and fully relaxing (especially if the activity is stressful or highly stimulating) feeling creatively drained or blocked ("if it's not going to be perfect, I'm not even gonna try" syndrome) constantly bracing yourself for the other shoe to drop being stuck in hyper-activity, hyper-productivity, and ruminating thoughts harsh inner critic and constant self-evaluation (and paralyzing fear of others' criticism!) feeling