The Dangers of Perfectionism

Perfection can affect you more than you have initially thought

A new evident study by psychologists at University College London has found that people who are too hard on themselves are more likely to experience depression and anxiety than those who don’t have high standards for themselves- even if they’re achieving their goals.

“Perfectionism is the habit of continually pursuing unattainable levels of excellence, along with an intolerance for anything less than perfect.”

— Dr. Steven Southwick

This may sound like a virtuous pursuit, but perfectionism can actually be dangerous to your mental health and career success if you allow it to take over your life.

In general, people have a desire to be perfect. We want everything from our relationships with others to the way we dress and fix ourselves up every day to be perfect. Perfectionism is a dangerous thing, though, because it can lead us down a path of never feeling good enough. This article will look at how perfectionism isn’t healthy for you or your business and what you can do about it.

Part I: The Reasons

What is perfectionism?

Perfectionism is the habit of continually pursuing unattainable levels of excellence, along with intolerance for anything less than perfect. A self-destructive and addictive belief system fuels this striving for flawlessness in all aspects of life — from work to relationships and personal health. The problem with perfectionism lies in its very nature: it’s unresolvable. No matter how long you spend or what you do try to get things just right, there will always be room for improvement- making perfectionists lose their motivation over time.

Why perfectionism is bad

Perfectionism is destructive to your mental health. People who are perfectionists have higher rates of depression and anxiety, as well as other emotional problems.

Perfectionists also tend to be more sensitive about their relationships because they’re always worried that others don’t value them enough or think less of them when there’s even the slightest mistake- so perfectionists often push people away before anyone has a chance to leave first.

How does it affect you at work?

It’s true that perfectionists tend to be high achievers and get more done than their non-perfectionist counterparts. But this often comes at a cost: they’re so preoccupied with doing everything perfectly, they forget about the importance of managing themselves well too.

Perfectionism can lead to isolation from colleagues because your standards are considered impossible for others to reach; you’ll also struggle to delegate tasks or ask for help when things get stressful and time is short (which it always does).

Then there are the dangers of burnout: constantly thinking about how much you need to achieve each day will wear anyone down eventually — even if they don’t realize it yet!

That means that success is no longer determined by the number of people who buy something from us; instead, we need to work together as a team, so everyone wins. The good news is that these changes are entirely doable if you focus on improving yourself rather than trying to be perfect all the time.

Part II: The Process

How to stop being a perfectionist

1) Learn from mistakes

First of all, we need to know and start accepting and forgiving ourselves for making mistakes- even though it’s tough! We can’t keep putting tremendous pressure on ourselves every time something goes wrong because it creates more stress and doesn’t help us solve the problem correctly.

2) Stop caring about what other people think

Next, we should try focusing less on what other people think about us: as long as our family and friends love us (and they will if we’re kinder towards them), then everything else is trivial. Trying to control or manipulate others’ opinions by constantly doing things perfectly only makes life harder anyway because no one likes feeling controlled- most minor of all your friends or family.

3) Don’t set the bar too high

In addition, practice letting goes of huge expectations — Allow yourself room for mistakes as well as successes. Don’t beat yourself up over small issues or minor errors because those kinds of problems aren’t worth losing sleep over. You’ll experience more happiness and become a much happier person if you learn how not to take everything personally and not allow other people’s expectations to define who you really are deep down inside. Perfection doesn’t entirely exist in this world, but the actual value does. It takes courage every time we embrace the unknown in order to discover something new about ourselves.

4) Organized Planning

Finally, we have to learn how to prioritize things better- because it’s impossible to do everything well all the time. It means that you’ll need to plan ahead and say no when necessary instead of trying to please everyone at once.

5) Embrace failures

Embrace failure as much as possible: every mistake is an opportunity for learning (and many successful people fail even after succeeding once or twice already). If we focus ourselves too much on trying not to fail instead of seeing what we could learn from mistakes- then progress becomes impossible in any area of life. So people should stop worrying about being perfect and just keep trying- it’s the only way to achieve anything significant.

6) Enjoy family time

Try spending time with people who love and accept you unconditionally because it means they’ll be less likely to judge you when something doesn’t go according to plan. That way, the more support you have around you, the easier it will become for everyone involved.

Part III: Aftermath

What are the benefits?

The benefits of letting go of your desire for everything to be perfect all the time are endless- not just for you, but everyone around you too.

You’ll feel happier and less stressed most of the time because it means that your mind isn’t constantly thinking about what needs to be done next, so there’s more space left in there for focusing on things that matter instead.

You’ll also be less likely to push people away because you’re not as sensitive about mistakes and don’t need other people’s approval as much anymore.

You’ll be able to grow in whatever area you choose because you’ll be more open to learning and trying new things- no matter how big or small.

And finally, your work will become much easier too: prioritizing better means that you won’t waste time on unimportant tasks and can focus on what’s important instead of rushing around the office all day long.

“If you look for perfection, you’ll never be content.” ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

Final Thought

Perfectionism is a self-destructive habit that leads to isolation from colleagues, burnout, and low productivity due to a lack of motivation over time.

It can be stopped by accepting yourself despite making mistakes, ignoring other people’s criticism, unless if it is constructive feedback, and prioritizing tasks better when planning ahead each day/week/month.

Previously published here

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