Ring the bells that still can ring

Does perfectionism really help us achieving the best, the highest possible?
As a recovering perfectionist I spent quite some time trying to get to the bottom of this conundrum. For me, the question behind perfectionism was “am I good enough”? There was a voice of insecurity and self-criticism and as a reaction to that I overdid it. Always.

Fast forward time: I learned to be very vigilant about that voice. Not so much feeding it anymore, nor arguing with it anymore. Nowadays I turn my back on that voice and walk away from it. And just do my work. And I discovered that new habits are much more powerful than old fears.

And if I need a gentle reminder, I always go back to the refrain of a song from Leonard Cohen, one of my mentor coaches suggested a long time ago.
Sweet, very sweet:
“ring the bells that still can ring,
forget your perfect offering.
There is a crack in everything,
That’s how the light gets in.
That’s how the light gets in”…