Stephen Gostkowski Quotes

Everything that these folks are saying that they're trying to move away from, like comparison, perfectionism, judgement, and exhaustion as a status symbol - that all describes my life. It was more like a medical researcher studying a disease and figuring out he or she has it.

I'm like a recovering perfectionist. For me it's one day at a time.

Being self-critical is good; being self-hating is destructive. There's a very fine line there somewhere, and I walk it carefully.

You'll go down a dark road if you just dwell on every time you screw up. We play a very fickle position. If I make nine kicks out of 10, people are going to talk about the one I missed.

I'm trying to be more organized, put together, and be more kind to myself. I'm really hard on myself and really just self-critical and always striving for this perfection which doesn't exist.

A wonderful pastor I know once told me, "Perfectionism is the highest order of self-abuse." So now I try to remind myself that if I engage in perfectionism, I am abusing myself. Period.

Don't be so hard on yourself, don't put pressure on yourself, life is just a chain of experiments and results, and you'll be perfect when you're dead.

You have to be reasonable with yourself and not feel guilty when things aren't perfect.

My biggest advice for high school girls is to not take yourself so seriously.

You can't go over every beat, every second, and worry about how you can do it better - it'll eat you alive.

I can live with myself.

If you have a perfectionist streak - and who doesn't? - running can kill the perfectionist inside you.

I have from time to time been a double A or triple A personality. I'm not anymore. I'm more lenient on myself.

I was so self-critical. I still am, but it's not as bad anymore.

I guess I kind of realized that my whole life isn't one giant press junket. I don't have to be smiling all the time and always have the perfect answer.

You need a balance in life between dealing with what's going on inside and not being so absorbed in yourself that it takes over.

I kind of learned that I am way too tough of a critic on myself and that other people are not judging me as harshly as I judge myself, so I need to give myself a break.

When people come to me and tell me I was terrific in this or that, I do not want to fall flat on my face the next time. But, tough, I have fallen flat before. You just get up and dust yourself off.

The older I've got, the easier I've found it to accept myself. I think I've finally learnt not to beat myself up so much.

I have a perfectionist mentality; I want things to be right. But I've had a little duel over the years with that mentality. Because it can inhibit you.

It's been hard, but I've finally come to the realization that it's okay to not be perfect.

I'm not used to introspection. I've never lingered on my feelings. The show must go on.

I'm a real 'go, go' person... I'd make myself crazy by pushing too hard. It's important to pull pack the reins a little bit and get in touch with what's inside.

In therapy I have learned the importance of keeping spiritual life and professional life balanced. I need to regain my balance.

It's important to have an examined life - but it's a fine line between having an examined life and being hypercritical of oneself. There has to be balance in there somewhere.