Wondering how to overcome perfectionism?
You know you’ve done this…
- subscribed to oodles of newsletters.
- browsed countless How-to’s on Pinterest.
- watch endless videos on YouTube.
But you don’t put pencil to paper yourself
Why? Because you’re afraid. You’re afraid that you’re wasting your time, that other people will think you are wasting your time, that you won’t to get it right first time.
In short, you don’t know how to overcome perfectionism
And as a result, perfectionism and procrastination have teamed up to kick your butt ;).
Fear of failing is one of the chief reasons for procrastination. The other common reason is fear of hard work… which I find is far less common! Most people I meet expect to need to work to achieve something, even something that is as lighthearted as cartooning. So fear of failure is usually the culprit.
If you have developed a ‘fear’ of trying to draw because you’re sure you won’t be able to do it well, this video is for you… 3 unexpected ways to bust through the fear of getting it wrong, and start drawing in bright, lively colour.
How to overcome perfectionism (and just start drawing cartoons!)
The three things that will get you moving in this video are:
- really rough circles as a warm up
- rearranging circles, ovals and lines to make face patterns and
- tracing then recreating from a reference.
This is a pattern of working that can get you moving, and once you are moving you can start to make progress.
Of course you can’t really beat perfectionism in 3 simple steps
If it were that easy to overcome, people wouldn’t still be wrestling with it, so part of the process is embracing mistakes and a growth mindset. This can take some time because we are our own harshest critics, but you can start by changing the way you speak to yourself. Look at these examples of how to reframe your imperfections as learning opportunities instead:
I use these growth mindset reframes developed by Fieldcrest Elementary School teachers all the time.
Next Step?
Keep going!
Start with Draw a Stick Figure and then sign up for my 3 part video Stickmen to Cartoons series on the home page. Tiny little steps will keep you moving forward.
P.S. If you’re prepared to put in consistent effort and you want to overcome perfectionism in a systematic yet lighthearted, self-reflective way, check out the Da Vinci cartooning course. Works a treat for taming the most obnoxious inner critics 🙂 ).