4 Signs that Perfectionism is Planting Bad Seeds in Your Life

Is perfectionism is a Disorder?

One of the biggest fears that leaders wrestle with is the fear of making mistakes.  The pressure of leadership often pushes people to embrace extreme behaviors in order to cope with responsibility.  Extreme behaviors such as perfectionism. Writer / Psychologist Margarita Tartakovsky suggests that “Having some fear of mistakes can be a good thing – it can help to improve your performance. But excessive fear causes problems… Changing perfectionistic thinking is important since it’s our thoughts, our interpretations of what’s occurring around us, that perpetuate perfectionism.”

Here are a few signs that perfectionism might be doing damage to your life:

1) The Strictness of Your Standards Creates Unintended Consequences

On the surface, perfectionism seems like a practice which ought to make life easier.  Unfortunately, being fixated in getting things perfectly right can introduce unexpected hurdles.  For example, it can provoke an endless spiral of second-guessing, it can trigger trust issues, or it can encourage overthinking.

2) Other People Can’t Keep Up with You

There’s nothing wrong with striving for excellence.  But if your pursuit of perfection intimidates the people around you, perfectionism can end up causing friction in your relationships.  Strike a balance between doing things well, while also being down-to-earth.

3) You Never Feel Satisfied

Perfectionists have a natural instinct to find fault in everything.  This criticism can get so extreme that they become incapable of finding joy or satisfaction in their work.  If your efforts to make things perfect leaves you feeling angry, frustrated, depressed, or empty, it might be a good idea to take a step back and refresh your mindset.

4) You Ask Too Much of Yourself

Perfectionists often slip into an unintentional trap of setting unrealistic expectations.  Especially personal ones.  If you find yourself constantly having trouble meeting your own standards, there’s a good chance you’ve set the bar too high.  Simplify your life and stop trying to bite off more than you can chew.  Pace yourself so that you can be productive, rather than active.

Conclusion

Not many people realize this, but perfectionism and fear actually go hand in hand.  Perfectionism happens to be a behavioral manifestation of the fear of making mistakes.  Constantly trying to make things perfect is a subliminal habit which people use to cope with judgment.  Perfectionism has its merits, however, beware not to practice perfectionism at the expense of common sense.  Strike a balance between doing things well, and doing things right. If you like what you just read from our blog, you’ll love the various informative courses, workshops and events listed on our websites and social media. Whether you’re interested in personal development, or overall improvement of your business, give us a call at 1 (888) 823-7757 to find out how The RISE Academy can help you break past your daily struggles and start soaring in success. For business development coaching by Richard Martinez, call at 626-202-2291 or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

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