More and more, we are beginning to see a rising number of adolescents who, in striving for excellence, have developed elevated levels of stress.
For many high schoolers, the biggest single stressor is that it feels impossible to get to a place where they feel they've "done enough" and can put down their proverbial pencils and just, sort of, stop for a moment. There always feels like there's one more AP class to study up for, one more game to play in, one more instrument to learn in order to get into a top college. High schoolers and even middle schoolers are beginning to get a sense that they aren't "measuring up."
But what exactly are they measuring themselves against? To psychologist and EXPLO Professor-in-Residence Olivia Moorehead-Slaughter, it's both a simple and a dangerous thing we've all heard before: perfection.
We present ourselves as finished products... but nothing is ever as perfect as it looks. Nothing is ever a straightforward trajectory.
Moorehead-Slaughter reminds us that to decrease our anxiety, we must abandon this notion of perfection both for ourselves and how we perceive perfection in others — peers, coaches, parents, and heroes.
Changing your mindset may take a lot of practice. That's okay — we encourage you to not be so hard on yourself. Nobody, and we mean nobody is perfect.
Here are some really interesting (and some just fun) links that we have been recently indulging in to learn more about faking perfection.
Howard Shultz of Starbucks discusses how even the best CEOs are insecure: “Very few people, whether you’ve been in that job before or not, get into the seat and believe today that they are now qualified to be the CEO. They’re not going to tell you that, but it’s true.”
Feeling anxious, loving, dreamy, confident, guilty, grateful, envious, solitary, obsessed, or embarrassed? This Emotional Barometer breaks down our emotions in some pretty helpful ways.
A board game with a 1980s vibe, arcade-style boss battles, and just enough chance to keep things out of your control? Sounds like a perfect Saturday night playing Boss Monsters.
At EXPLO, liberal arts takes many forms, exercises, and events. Just a few EXPLO experiences that encourage students to choose undecided include:
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