If you've come to realize how much overcoming perfectionism would enhance your life, I send you my best wishes.
Recovery from this persistent, crippling mindset isn't easy.
Ask me how I know.
May I suggest you take up knitting? Here are four ways knitting can help you.
Non-threatening--Almost No Mistake is Permanent Knitting is made up of loops of yarn.
When you make a mistake, what's the worst that can happen? You undo it.
Your ball of yarn won't care, won't tell, and will be happy as a half-grown puppy who just found his tail if you make it into something else.
Bear in mind you can always rip and redo.
I heard one knitter say on her podcast that she tore out several fully-completed sweaters because they didn't turn out exactly right.
Sounds like an ouch to me, but it made her happy.
She felt better informed on how to make each sweater better.
I say almost no mistake is permanent because of felting.
Once a sweater or piece of knitting has been felted or fulled, there's no redo.
It can't be undone.
Excellent Practice Making Mistakes As you learn to knit, you will make mistakes.
Knitting takes practice until you learn the basic stitches, how not to increase stitches by accident, and establish a nice, even tension.
At first you may knit far too tightly.
It'll take time before you can just sit down and knit on a project without your full attention.
As you practice you'll gain skills, but don't try to fix mistakes in your first learning swatch.
Let it be for now.
Fixing mistakes takes advanced skill.
Just keep knitting until you can do it well enough to attempt a project.
You can always tear out your poor first attempt, but you might enjoy a laugh over it some time in future after you become proficient.
Your first project doesn't have to be a scarf.
Those who consider a scarf easy discount the slowness of a new knitter or the appalled conviction it's at least four hundred miles to reach the other end.
A washcloth could work for you.
A headband.
A cowl for your neck.
In your first project, you will fix mistakes.
Here you'll pick up a dropped stitch, make increases on purpose and so on.
There are videos online for every problem you may encounter.
Build Tolerance for Mistakes Some mistakes are glaring, horrible, obvious blunders visible to a rider on a horse galloping by.
Tink those back a few stitches so you can fix them, or rip back many rows so you can reknit them right.
Other mistakes go unnoticed until you discover you have one stitch too few or too many--and you can't find the error.
Maybe this error is so small, only you know where it lies.
Here's where you get to practice overcoming perfectionism.
Will you let one unnoticeable mistake slide? Can you tolerate two small errors? How about three? When I hit three, I have to go back and redo my knitting.
Yes, I'm a recovering perfectionist.
Top Reason to Knit Knitting can soothe and relax you like meditation.
Stresses of life melt away when you pick up your needles and knit awhile.
Knitting takes the edge off.
As a person who is overcoming perfectionism, you may find this benefit the best one of all.
Happy knitting!