6 Reasons Your Body is Stressed Out (and How to Fix It) (2 of 4)

Your standards are impossible to meet

Perfectionists are highly rigid in their thinking and behavior and have unreasonable expectations for themselves or others. To be clear, there’s a distinction between demanding perfection and striving for excellence, the latter of which involves engaging in positive thought and finding constructive solutions when navigating through the challenges in life. Perfectionists have no tolerance for those who can’t meet their high standards and often engage in self-loathing when they feel like they’ve let themselves down. They work themselves to exhaustion, and can develop serious physical and mental health problems as a result.

The Fix: To overcome the perfectionist mindset, you first need to stop equating “perfection” with hard work and perseverance. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, things won’t go as planned. You’ll discover that doing good is more than enough to get the job done right.

You’re Feeling an unwarranted sense of time urgency

Time urgency is the pervasive sense that every task needs to be finished ASAP, even when it isn’t the case. The need to rush through the work is driven by the misguided belief that getting a job done faster than everybody else is the ultimate measure of success, even if it comes at the expense of quality. The constant need to be in a hurry extends to their habits beyond work; they eat their meals without savoring them and move from point A to point B as if they’re in a race. This hyperactive lifestyle leads to negative physical, emotional, and social outcomes that can become unbearable.

The Fix: Your “life in the fast lane” approach to everything you do is untenable in the long term. Slow down. Learn to live in the moment. Approach tasks in a calm, relaxed manner with a focus on doing the job well.