Perfectionism is not my best friend

Note: This is my first post in this community (and my first time posting in a community at all), so if you think that my post violates any of the rules, that I posted this in the wrong community or that I make any mistake, or if you have something to notify me, please do so, I am more than grateful and willing to correct any mistake. I am open to receive any kind of feedback. And I hope you will forgive me for not making a more appropriate introduction of myself here. Best regards to you!


I have been trying to exercise again, just 10 minutes a day. It may not seem like much but it's not to build a lot of muscle mass, it's mostly to keep me physically active. My muscles are sore though, so I guess it works. I think it's better to stay consistent by doing a little every day than a lot one day and then many days doing nothing.

But I used to exercise in a more disciplined way before so I have some experience that I've accumulated. And what I truly think, is that a lot of people really over-complicate things and take it upon themselves to make this harder than it is. They become obsessed with doing things in a way that they've been told is the right way. Like, you have to do the full range of motion, or you must have the perfect posture, or you must have this diet or that diet, or you must do the exercises in this specific way or you will not see results. I think this is nonsense. I mean, I understand where they are coming from, I understand that ideally one should try to do things one way and that one should do one's best every time, but to say that you won't see results if you don't do it the way X or Y specialist says on the internet that you should do it is simply not true.

Ideally you should try to do it that way. Ideally, that's the word. But in practice, there are many people, and a great many I would say, who don't do things that way and still see results. It's good to improve and polish yourself and try to do your best, but you don't have to be a perfectionist about it. It's better to be consistent in practice, just showing up every day and doing what you can, than to be obsessively detailed in how you should do things or flat out not doing anything because you're not going to do it the right way. There are a lot of myths that people create, and that others believe.

You don't need to have the perfect diet, sometimes not having an excessively bad diet is enough. Just like range of motion, I'm all for trying to make it full, that's true, but really, a lot of people see results with half reps. There are even videos of celebrities like Arnold in his youth doing half reps and no one is going to say they didn't see results. A lot of people get their heads in a twist and over-complain what is not that hard and then think they need a special technique or method that they believe is the only one that works. It's not that hard my friend, just push and pull and that's it.

Perfectionism isn't really my best friend. I always feel like I'm doing things wrong even though I'm following the instructions to the letter. Is this the right way to do push-ups? But again, it's not that hard, I've done it, I've seen results, and yet in the back of my mind is the thought of am I doing it right? The thing is, I'll probably never do it the perfect way it ideally should be, and that however doesn't mean I won't make gains.

But it happens to me with everything, almost everything I do, I'm always doubting if I'm doing it right and I think it happens to a lot of people like me, and a lot of other people make a profit by exploiting these insecurities that people have and selling the only right way to get results, according to them.

There is no special technique, or maybe there is but I don't know it, what I do know is that in practice it takes longer to see results than what is shown in advertisements. In 6 months you will not get the perfect body in the same way that in 6 months you will not become proficient in a foreign language. It requires more time. Ars longa vita brevis. There is little time and many things to do. So many things to excel at, and as a song I heard says, a hundred years is too little. Of course, I'm not saying it will take you that long to see results, but our expectations are often not the most accurate, and time flies after all. So it's best to be aware of this when we do it.

Sometimes I ask myself, what am I doing wrong? I don't feel like I'm doing things the best way, but in my opinion, it's better to do the best I can than to do nothing at all.

It's a constant struggle with perfectionism.

I think this has become a kind of rant, and I don't like ranting. So that's enough for today.


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