Evaluate Yourself . . . To a Point
Posted on September 15th, 2009 by Devin
I am one of those people that processes most of the day. By that I mean I think about situations and how I fit into them, what I could have done differently, what I might say in the next conversation, etc. You would think I am a perfectionist with all that going on frequently in my head. I have some perfectionist qualities, but I don’t consider myself one. You could say I am not a perfect perfectionist.
What keeps me from the frequent or constant anxiety of being a perfectionist is in the way I evaluate myself. The most productive way to evaluate yourself is to take an attitude of curiosity. When you are truly curious, you are less critical.
Example:
Critical - Ugh! Why did I say THAT?
Curious - That’s interesting. I wonder why I said that.
It is okay to examine how you think, act, and speak. Just try to be more objective, with a curious attitude. Avoiding self-criticism helps you feel better anyway.
What a great way to frame it. It’s funny that we can be so curious about other places and people and degrade to simplistic criticism with ourselves. Maybe it’s just easier? (Hmm… what an interesting viewpoint!)
Hi Devin,
Curiosity is a healthy and liberating stand-in for
for self-criticism. Curiosity is a road to
self-acceptance.
I got this from a website
you mentioned in one of your blogs in 2008.
There is a wonderful article on self-acceptance
and different ways to go about it
http://www.emoclear.com/selfacceptance.htm
Best, Brendaka
Great post! This is very helpful. I’m sure I’d visit your site more often. Anyway, you can drop by my favorite online hang out too, at UK Student Community. Thanks!