10 reasons why Superwoman needs to be grounded

Oh yes, I can feel it! It is not just the world around me that blooms and opens into spring, I am emerging from the long, cold, dark days of winter. This time of year it’s like my brain doing a deep spring cleaning: clearing all clutter, eliminating all negative self-talk, dusting off ideas and dreams that got stuck along the way, and increasing my energy level as well. you can turn those ideas into action.

There is a resurgence that is inspiring, that frees my thinking and my confidence that I can achieve what I set out to do. As a result, resistance – that pesky saboteur who likes to get in my way more often than I’d like to admit – is silenced.

Endurance and perfectionism tend to go hand in hand. Many successful, high-performing women find themselves stuck by these confines of the mind, by the need to be a Superwoman. There is a kind of pas de deux that women perform between these two extremes that makes them tap dance instead. Y covering the length of the dance floor (while carrying a fifty pound pack on their back).

Well, let me give you a hint on the dirty and dirty truth about trying to be a superwoman, be it in your work or personal life:

1. It will wear you out. No doubt about it. It will chew you up and spit you out like a piece of sopresso past its expiration date.
2. The more you do, the more others want. That is not because they are necessarily greedy. It is because it is part of human nature to go to those who do things to get things done.
3. Anything that needs your attention today will need it again tomorrow.. It’s like the movie Groundhog Day where the same scene repeats itself day after day.
4. Nobody will know. Not even you.
5. If you think you are the only one who can take care of it, you need to rethink your own importance.. Nuf said.
6. The need to be in control is a killer. This from a recovering control freak who, before going through “control freak rehab,” had the sadly mistaken belief that I had to control everything around me or the world would stop spinning. How are you that for super powers!
7. You are not responsible for the world and everything in it.. For more information on this, see n. 6.
8. The need to be right will leave you alone and unhappy. I have often said to myself and others in the heat of a disagreement: “Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?” Being overly dogmatic about our own righteousness is a sure way to reduce the amount of company we have. No one wants to be around someone they think they are forever straight.
9. Being a superwoman is a burden. For more information on this, see numbers 1 to 8.
10. Every woman is “super” in her own way, so you don’t need to prove it over and over again. Give yourself a high five, a pat on the back, or whatever form of recognition you like best, and then: Get. About. Yourself.

With the arrival of spring in my world, Superwoman has been punished and it’s time for me to let go and come out in the biggest, boldest, most brutal way I can (and stamina and perfectionism are definitely NOT invited for the ride).

Join me?

Whether you agree or disagree with me about the cost to your mind, body, and soul of being a Superwoman, I’d love to hear from you, so post your comments on my blog. Better yet, let us know that you’ve made the decision to discontinue your Superwoman tendencies and plan to fly free and unhindered into the wild and blue there.

Testify ladies! Let us hear you!