For several years, perfectionism has been viewed primarily negatively and has been associated with declining productivity and threats to mental health.
But what exactly is perfectionism?
Those affected report of a habit of setting unrealistic expectations for themselves that they struggle to meet. They are unhappy and frustrated if they don’t achieve their goals and on the flip side find it hard to celebrate if they do.
What the public often misses is the fact that there is another side to perfectionism. Knowing about that will enable individuals to use perfectionism as a tool. Like a hammer that is good when we want to get a nail into a wall but less helpful when we want to assemble a piece of furniture with screws.
It is important to understand that perfectionists don’t primarily aim for perfection or highly qualitative work. What they are really trying to achieve is being inviolable. They do so by trying to avoid mistakes at any cost and therefore dodge being criticized.
Once that is fully understood it is clear that it’s not about reducing one's standards or preventing someone from aiming for more than others. Rather, it is about separating their self-worth and confidence from their achievements. A perfectionist identifies so much with their work that a mistake feels like a personal devaluation to them. “Perfectionists don’t make a mistake, they are a mistake.”
Three things can help perfectionists to use that character trait to their advantage.
“Instead of thinking about how to achieve perfection, one should ask themselves if it is even worth it.” Most perfectionists never question that. They never think about the potential drawbacks of aiming for perfection or even the upsides of not doing so. That’s where knowing about #2 becomes essential.
“Perfectionism is a tradeoff where you always sacrifice something for perfection.” Whether it be your time, energy, sleep, social life, health, or hobbies. It’s crucial to understand, that perfectionism primarily leads to mental illnesses, when one expects to be perfect everywhere all the time, without any exception. But if one is fully aware of that sacrifice and consciously decides to pay the price, then there’s nothing wrong with that.
“Humans are better at improving than at creating.” That’s why perfectionists do good by completing a first draft of whatever they’re working on and only then start improving it. There are two major benefits of this procedure. First one is, that it’s less prone to procrastination because there is immediate visible progress, which is especially important for perfectionists. The second one is that once a potential deadline hits, there is no risk of being only half finished with the required work. Instead, one will always have a complete version at hand that is most likely better than what 90% of others have available. This too is how this article was written as well.
Internalizing these three learnings is the fastest and most effective way towards experiencing the benefits of being a perfectionist. Always remember: “Perfectionism can be used like a tool.” It can be incredibly useful in the right situations and later stored away in one’s personal tool box for future use.
Fellow perfectionist, you were made for big things. Now’s the time to use your higher power and be great. Best of luck!
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