Failure to delegate

I think my mentality of "I can do it all" has influenced my tendency to mistrust that others can do things properly. With that mistrust, I sometimes fail to delegate even small tasks. I admit, I have trouble trusting others with a task unless I'm sure they can complete the task perfectly.

Take cleaning for example. I'd rather do it all and do it all by myself, then having others help, with fear that the house won't be cleaned to my standards. Even though my husband and children offer to help, in which they do, I feel this need to go back over things and make sure they were done correctly. This is a troublesome area in my life. I don't want to do it all. I don't have the time or mentality to clean my entire house by myself. I don't even enjoy doing the chores. But I am so reluctant to let others help in fear that these mundane tasks won't be done correctly to my standards. Why is this?

This is a huge area in my life where I'm having to figure out if this is a helpful or unhelpful standard that I have set for myself. This overly high standard is certainly not helpful and is getting in the way of me achieving my goals, living my life. I know that this is an area in which I have to think differently on this issue. There are too many benefits that would come if I could just relax or ignore this rule, this failure to delegate. What would it take for me to start delegating and trust others with tasks?

Don't try to read the minds of others

The other day we were sitting down at the dinner table eating when I found myself trying to read the minds of my family members.  Their silence was eating away at me and surely if they had liked the meal that I had just prepared, I thought for sure I would have heard positive comments by now. I indirectly tied their silence to some sort of failure of mine.  Their silence meant that I had failed.

This was not actually the case and they ended up loving it.  Their silence was just a mere moment of them enjoying their food (and not talking).

I think so many times, perfectionists try to read the minds of others. They almost in a way expect too much of others.  They associate other people's actions with themselves.  Perfectionist sometimes tend to think that other people's actions have something to do with themselves, or even their failures. This mind reading involves the perfectionist assuming that they know what other people are thinking.

I think realizing these relationships and really trying to stop this has helped me identify areas in which I need to work on.  I don't need to try to read the minds of others, I just need to concentrate on being the best I can be and not worry so much about what other people are thinking.