Retrain Your Attention To Small Wins & Not Tiny Mistakes

Many of us were raised on perfectionism. Our nervous systems settle when they are given fair evidence of success, not constant correction of mistakes. Try this to retrain your attention towards what serves you.

Was anyone else here a prefect? I remember getting "peanutted" outside of the library from time to time. Spending the next ten minutes trying to loosen the knot. 🤓

Many of us were raised on perfectionism. A parent pushing us to work hard to have a better education, better career, better life. Often and in my case, coming from a place of care and love, but an unintended by-product can be learning to scan for, and notice errors versus achievements. Our nervous systems settle when they are given regular evidence of success, instead of correction of mistakes.

Noticing and naming small wins, even if in your own mind each day, slowly builds confidence. Going over tiny mistakes builds fear, keeping us stuck and small.

See if you can turn your attention towards wins and strengths, with these tips:

If you're a journaller. Try journalling about your day through an optimistic lens. Without your pen even leaving the page for spaces; write down small wins, positive experiences, pleasant moments, they can be absolutely tiny. Good luck if you can decipher your own handwriting. Mine is normally terrible but worse when I'm trying to not take my pen off the page so it flows.

Let a small win land in your body. Often they pass us by so quickly, they go pretty much unnoticed. Instead stop to notice it and what it triggers inside of you, a smile, a fuzzy tummy, loosened shoulders. Notice if it feels awkward and unnatural, it's another signal that recognising your small wins needs some more practice.

Keep a smile file. Praise, kind words, photos from friends. Something you can turn to, to counterbalance the mistake catalogue that could be as long as the Dead Sea Scrolls.