[Monday Motivator] Perfectionism vs Authenticity

Heather Sager  0:09  
Well, hey friend welcome to another episode of The Heather Sager show. It's me Heather Sager and I'm honored to be your speaking coach here today in this episode. I've spent the last 15 years studying and building my communication skills to inspire and teach business owners and their teams from stages around the world. I've had the honor of speaking on more than a thousand of stages on topics of leadership, premium brand positioning, sales, and of course communication. And now my focus is helping fellow online entrepreneurs become magnetic speakers, so they can make a bigger impact in the world while growing their income. This show right here was designed to give you a dedicated space each and every week to grow your skills, and keep your big goals front and center. And if you liked today's episode, be sure to grab a screenshot and share it to Instagram and tag me @theheathersager so I can give you a shout-out and celebrate the work you're doing. All right, let's dive in, friend. it's gonna be a good one. 

Well, hey, friend, welcome to your Monday Motivator, your quick dose with Sager so that you can start your week feeling a little bit more authentic, a little more brave, a little more present as you navigate your week. Today, we're talking about perfectionism because it paralyzes so many entrepreneurs, especially people who have high expectations of themselves. perfectionism can really stunt our creativity, can stunt our growth, it can stunt so many things in our business. 

I think this is a topic that probably resonates for most people. You know, I see a lot of in digital courses, in a lot of programs, people get stuck in the creation loop because they can create, they have the idea, they start getting it out but then they try to perfect it and never actually put anything out in the world. I don't want that for you whether it's your ideas, whether that's you sharing your message, whether that's you being a little bit more braver and having a conversation with someone that's going to be uncomfortable. Don't allow perfection to have you sit in action. Don't let perfection, paralyze you. And I wanted to read you a quote from Brene Brown's Power of Vulnerability. It's an exceptional audio program. I highly recommend that everybody listened to this, especially as you're on your pursuit of being more influential and persuasive in your communication, having empathy and heart and living a little bit more wholeheartedly as Brene calls it. I think that'd be really serving well for you. Let me read you this quote here. 

Brene says where there's perfectionism, there's always shame. Perfectionism is not healthy striving. It's not let me go out and be my best self. No, no, perfectionism is a thought process that simply says, if I look perfect, if I live perfect, if I work perfect and do it all perfectly, I can avoid or minimize shame, blame, judgment and criticism. Perfectionism is a 20-ton shield. She says, we carry it around, hoping that it'll protect us when what it does, in fact, stops us from being seen. Perfectionism is a process addiction. These are some of the things I wrote down as I was listening to the Power of Vulnerability. That idea, oh man right there. Perfectionism is a 20 ton shield. We carry it around hoping that it will protect us when what it does, in fact, is stop us from being seen. 

You're on a journey to become more visible in your business. You want to share your message with more people and if you struggle with perfectionism, this is going to get in the way of that. We have to start embracing imperfection. And what I want you thinking about this week, specifically, is the word authenticity because if you think about the people who fully show up as themselves. We are not going to edit this out guys, like you're gonna see my full authentic self on these within reason. Sometimes I go off on tangents so I might cut that. We got to get this down to five minutes for this episode. But if you think about the people that you're drawn to online, the people that you're like, oh, I like them, they are authentic and that authenticism, authenticity. That's the word. That authenticity is them making mistakes, showing they're real human people. We actually hate the perfect mom, we hate the perfect home chef, we hate the perfect online entrepreneurs. We talk crap about them over coffee with our girlfriends.

I don't know. But we don't like that, right? Something irks us about that perfectionism because we know perfectionism doesn't exist. It doesn't exist for other people and it most certainly doesn't exist for you. So you know you have to let some of those shackles go and start showing up in perfectly. 

As you enter in this week, I want you thinking about this idea. Perfectionism, if that has you handcuffed, not making a decision in your business, if it had that handcuffed of you, not moving forward on a project or not having a conversation or whatever it is, I know, you got something in mind where you are not taking action. If you're being really honest with yourself, it's that perfectionism, that expectation that you have for yourself that you know is crazytown but yet you still have it. That's stopping you. 

This is the week I want you to, you're not able to let it go overnight like there's a baggage you got to unpack there but can you choose one thing that you can show up imperfectly with? What's one project, one conversation, one video one something that you can say, all right, I see you shackles, I see a 20-ton shield, I'm putting you down and I'm going to show up bravely. That's what's being a leader is all about, that's how you start cultivating trust with your audience, that's how you truly start being seen. Because at the end of the day, we don't want people to see the shiny, polished curated version of that because we know deep down we're sick of seeing those images. We want to see real people, real entrepreneurs, real business owners sharing real problems, and real connections to help people so take off the field and start showing up. That is your challenge for this week. 

I hope this conversation on perfectionism, on this idea of being more authentic, I hope that's inspired you to go do something differently in your business, in your life, and to show up a little bit more brave. I will be back next week for another Monday Motivator. In the meantime, be sure to like and subscribe to this show, and if you like today's conversation you love a little Brene in your life. Share this episode with a friend. Let's get the word out on this thing we're doing here starting the week on Mondays together. We're starting out strong. See you soon friend!