Making Peace
With Your Past
Unit 6 –
Perfectionism and Procrastination
Memory verse: 2 Corinthians 12:9
– “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made
perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly
about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me”
Affirmations to repeat: “Because
God loves me, it is OK to be incomplete.”
Day 1: Programmed for Perfectionism
Q1. When Jesus says in Matthew 5:48 “Be
perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect”, what did
he mean? Did he intend for us to be a perfectionist? Pg.106
Q2. How do we become
perfectionists? Pg.107
Q3. Did you have any “almost”
messages, while growing up? What were they? Pg.108
Q4. What about the “zero-defects”
message? Please describe. List some things that are not worth doing
an an optimal level. Pg.108
Q5. Can you identify with the “hard
work cover-up” message? How? Pg.109
Q6. What about the “idle-hands”
message? Were you taught to stay busy all the time? How was this
communicated to you? How did it affect you? Pg.109
Q7. Were you challenged to “reach
for the stars”? Was this message motivating, frightening, or mixed
(feeling both good and bad)? pg.110
Day 2: The Cost of Perfectionism
Q8. List three ways perfectionism
makes relationships with other people difficult. Pg.112
Q9. Are you a perfectionist? What
does this feel like? Do you enjoy it? Why do you feel this way?
Pg.113
Day 3: Perfectionism and Productivity
Q10. Do you consistently
procrastinate? Give examples. Why do you procrastinate? Pg.114
Q11. How has perfectionism affected
your productivity? Are you too successful at being a perfectionist?
Pg.115
Day 4: An Alternative to Perfectionism
Q12. What are the three steps to
letting go of perfectionism? Pg.117
Day 5: Perfectionism and Excellence
Q13. Name four differences between
perfectionism and aiming for excellence.
Q14. How would you define aiming
for excellence? Are you willing to adopt this goal rather than the
compulsion of perfectionism? Pg.119
Summary:
Q15. What are the major lessons you
have learned as you progressed through this unit? (half page)