Crossfit | Treatment for Perfectionism

photo credit: Natalia Anja

I am a recovering perfectionist.  I’ve always had high expectations of myself, but it wasn’t until a few years ago when I was introduced to The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown that I actually considered myself a perfectionist.  At the time, I was struggling with the feelings of inadequacy that I have come to learn many women in business experience.  I was a year in to my real estate business and, though I was doing well, I was still adjusting to being an entrepreneur and being new at everything.  I had left a 15-year teaching career in which I had experienced success as an International Baccalaureate English and Theory of Knowledge teacher and English Department Head.  Even though I am a life-long learner and am always open to new challenges and ideas, I had become quite comfortable in my expertise.  So, my biggest challenge when I got into business was allowing myself time – time to learn the business and to develop my business systems.  I had to start practicing the idea that ‘whatever I get done today is enough‘.

Notice I call myself a recovering perfectionist, and I said we have to practice the idea that what we get done in a given day is enough.  It is an ongoing process, which is tough for us goal-oriented types!

Acknowledgement is the first step. But the irony is that we can never be perfect at handling our perfectionism.  That thought occasionally makes me want to cry foul.  But I am not so neurotic all of the time, and I have learned that once we acknowledge our perfectionism and choose to do something about it, or rather choose to allow ourselves to not do some things, we can begin to see that our personal limitations are not failures.  

When I first discussed the possibility of writing this article with Charlene, I had just completed 6 weeks of Crossfit training and was feeling pretty good about what I had accomplished.  I have always been very active; I was a gymnast and a dancer as a kid.  I am also a certified Jazzercise instructor, and I was teaching classes regularly until very recently.  So, as you might imagine, Crossfit was somewhat outside of my comfort zone! But in an effort to increase work-life balance and enjoy fitness with my husband and daughter who have been Crossfitters for several years, I decided to join them and give it a try.

I have witnessed positive changes in the lives and fitness levels of both my daughter and my husband, so I didn’t need to be convinced of the physical benefits of Crossfit training.  So, off I went to get me some muscles.  I got a lot more than I bargained for!  Though the coaches at Crossfit 604 are amazingly knowledgeable, professional and caring, there were times in the beginning when I wondered what I had gotten myself into! I had to learn a whole new language with words like: WOD, amprap, emom, and PR.  The language part was easier than the Olympic lifting skills I had to learn before I would be permitted to attend a class with the general Crossfit 604 population.  When I first started learning Olympic lifting techniques, I was definitely out of my comfort zone! I am a dancer.  I have a pretty good level of coordination and body awareness, but some of these movements were so foreign to me that I couldn’t imagine ever being able to do them.  It’s good to mix things up in our lives and fitness routines, doing so keeps us vital and healthy; but, it can be tough for us over-achiever, perfectionist types to go through the learning curve of trying something new.

The philosophy at Crossfit 604 is that correct movement and technique are more important than heavy lifting.  Nevertheless, heavy lifting is a way of measuring progress and increased strength.  As I mentioned before, at the time I agreed to write this article, I was feeling quite proud of myself because I had achieved a mindset of allowing myself to take it slow and learn to do things correctly to avoid injury.  Yay me!

I have been doing Crossfit training for almost 6 months now.  I am better at the movements and I am stronger too; I can do things now that I have never done before! But, a few weeks ago when Charlene reminded me that I had offered to write this article about how Crossfit is helping me deal with my perfectionism, the irony was ridiculous.

I had forgotten what I had been practicing.  Like most people who have led active lives and are nearing half a century, I still think I can do what I have always done, and I have some injuries that plague me when I push too hard.  I have had to back off from my training schedule and find myself struggling with my limitations again.  I have been very frustrated with myself for not being able to do everything during the workouts.  But the Crossfit 604 coaches keep reminding me this is a long game, and I need to take care of my body by listening to it when it says “enough”.  The coaches are helping me to modify almost everything these days.  And I am recovering and remembering the important thing is I am still moving and getting the benefits of that movement.  The same is true in our business and our lives, we are in it for the long game and we need to be gracious with ourselves when we don’t get a week’s worth of work done in a single day.

The ACTION we take each day for our bodies, our businesses and our lives will have the cumulative effect of making us stronger and more successful.  It’s good to flex our muscles in all areas, but straining them doesn’t bring us closer to perfection.

Flexing my PowHERful Practice muscles to calm perfectionism:

• At the gym or in your business, the important thing is to keep moving.  It’s not about how fast you move or how much you lift.
• Be gracious with yourself.  Remember, whatever get’s done today or doesn’t get done, You Are Enough.  [read:  YOU ARE ENOUGH!]
• Your limitations, whether physical or temporal, are not failures.  Work within them, and you will gradually become stronger and more productive both in business and at the gym.

Deborah Stellingwerff is a Vancouver Realtor specializing in residential property.