Stop trying to be perfect – it’s paralysing, says beloved Domestic Goddess Nigella Lawson

As the nation’s beloved Domestic Goddess you could be forgiven for thinking Nigella Lawson is practically perfect in every way.

But the writer and TV chef has revealed just how exhausting the quest for perfection can be – and how she ‘freezes with terror’ at the start of every food project.

‘Trying to be perfect is paralysing,’ the 63-year-old admits. ‘Life can be hard enough without punishing yourself for making mistakes.

‘Besides, perfectionism is so constraining: if you don’t allow yourself to risk failure, you just trap yourself in an ever smaller, more airless place.

‘I’m not saying I’m immune to the fear of failure. In fact, at the beginning of any new project, I can get overwhelmed with terror at the prospect and just freeze, unable to get started.’

As the nation’s beloved Domestic Goddess you could be forgiven for thinking Nigella Lawson (pictured) is practically perfect in every way

But the writer and TV chef has revealed just how exhausting the quest for perfection can be – and how she ‘freezes with terror’ at the start of every food project

Despite this, her culinary success is unrivalled. With 11 cookery bestsellers since her first hit, How To Eat, was published in 1998, she also has several successful TV shows to her name, including Nigella’s Christmas Kitchen.

But she maintains it is only by accepting the worst possible outcome – that her endeavours will be a ‘complete and utter failure’ – that she can move forward.

She also told the Times it is ‘small pleasures’ which get her through life. ‘Great joys are rare, but luckily small joys are much more frequent: a blue sky on a cold day; finding a writer you love… good food,’ she says. 

‘In fact, these things are what create the texture of your days, so it might not be fair to characterise them as small joys, after all.’

• Nigella’s Amsterdam Christmas is on BBC1 and BBC iPlayer from 8pm on December 21.

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