You don’t need to be perfect.
In the third episode of the College Series, Brooke shares how striving for perfection is not the key to a happy life. She shares how she used to try to be perfect, but it eventually launched her into a pit of anxiety.
The anxiety got so bad that Brooke woke up with a panic attack every morning for 6 months. She knew she needed to do something, but she just didn’t know what to do to feel okay.
Brooke isn’t alone. Other college students share their same struggles. In fact, this statistic says that 60% of college students felt “overwhelming anxiety” in the last year.
In this episode we discuss the following talking points:
- What does anxiety feel like, and how do you know if you have anxiety?
- Unhealthy coping mechanisms for stress and anxiety
- How to find healthy coping mechanisms that work for you
For Brooke, she recalls on a time where she didn’t cope with her anxiety in the right away, with trying to find peace in the “going out scene”. She found that drinking did not work for her, and it would not be a healthy coping mechanism, as opposed to how other college students use alcohol. She advises away from “quick fixes” and gives us examples on how to move toward long-lasting healing.
Brooke speaks wisdom from going through the lowest lows of anxiety. She now strives for excellence, not for perfection. And she makes a point to exercise, journal and continually seek support.
If you want to be perfect, but you struggle with anxiety, you rarely want to tell people because it might hurt your perfect image. But it doesn’t make you any less.
It’s okay to not perfect. Now when Brooke has an anxious day, she knows what to do with herself. And hopefully, after listening to this episode, you’ll have a better idea, too.
