Hi everyone! Welcome, or welcome back, to The Teen Safe Zone where it's safe for teens to be themselves! In today's blog post, we will be discussing the pressure that you have to "know it all" as a teenager, being a perfectionist, and being your own worst critic.
This topic is something that I have been dealing with recently, and I realized that I'm not the only teen going through it. We talk a lot about the pressure of society on this blog, but sometimes the pressure doesn't always come from society; it comes from our own mindset.
The Pressure To "Know It All"
Recently, I have been putting a lot of pressure on myself just because I don't "know it all." That is, I find it difficult to accept that some things in life can only be determined by time. I am a person who likes to have all of my big goals and aspirations planned out, so I can have enough time to make a plan so these goals can come true. However, the problem comes when I don't know the next steps to take.
Example:
I look forward to attending college, but I always get stressed out because I realize that I'm not sure what college I will like to attend or even what major I am interested in taking. This process becomes stressful because I realize that when I don't have "it all figured out," it interferes with the lifestyle that I have planned in my head. The uncertainty of how life will go and what my future decisions will be makes me uncomfortable to think about. I feel that because I'm almost a junior in high school, I need to have this figured out by now.
This mindset is applicable to any situation in life, not just school. You may feel that you need to know your next steps in your career or how you are going to make a living after high school, etc., and it becomes an uncomfortable feeling when you realize that only some things are told as time goes on.
Stressing over the future isn't going to help solve anything. I previously talked about how making goals and plans is a good thing to do in life, but those goals and plans shouldn't become you. Never make goals and plans to put your present self in a box.
Perfectionism & Being Your Worst Critic
The next topic I want to talk about is perfectionism. I never thought I would say this, but I have been finding myself becoming a perfectionist recently, especially in school, blogging, and on my YouTube channel. I unintentionally put myself in a box with labels, and when I don't meet up to those standards I've created, I tend to become my own worst critic.
Examples:
Finding a niche for my YouTube channel; although my channel's name is Everything Lexi, meaning there will be a variety of content on there, I sometimes become picky and worry whether one video that is a little bit different than what I typically do "ruins" the niche of my channel.
School; I tend to become very determined (and not in a good way) if I don't get a grade that I am satisfied with, even if that means an A-. I worry that a B would "ruin" my grade.
As you can see from the examples, sometimes we are our own worst critics in life. Instead of saying, "Hey, at least I tried my best," we tear ourselves down for what we could have done better. As far as labeling yourself goes, we have to adapt the mindset that labeling ourselves doesn't help anything. We are humans, not robots with one purpose. We have plenty of potential in different aspects of life, so take that chance to show it to the world. My strength in life is being able to give advice so that I can help encourage and even be relatable to others, but I also love to do other things such as going shopping, reading, etc. Why do I tell myself that I can't do a variety of things on my YouTube channel if I have a variety of interests?
We have to start seeing the great potential in ourselves, not just the flaws and mistakes that we make. You don't have to "know it all" in life, especially as a teen, because no matter how much you plan out your life, things will not always go the way we planned. That's why we have backup plans A,B,C, and D. If something is meant to be in our lives, it will happen regardless of what obstacles we have to face in life before we receive it. If that car, house, or career is meant for you, it will happen for you. You don't have to put yourself in a box and label yourself, but rather embrace your full potential and live life to the fullest.
Focus on today and the present time, and don't jump to step 100 if you haven't made it to step 10 yet.
Well, I hope you all enjoyed today's post! If you all have any other comments on this post, make sure to become a member on this site by simply signing up and making an account to comment! If you want to contact me about anything, please visit the "Contact Us" page on this blog where we can privately talk! New posts every other Sunday! - Lexi
I'm loving the consistency! I'm happy to see that your new posting schedule is working great for you!
"Focus on today and the present time, and don't jump to step 100 if you haven't made it to step 10 yet." - My new favorite quote!