Sounds like a good thing, right? Who wouldn’t want to be someone who likes everything to be perfect? Perfectionism is often described as a positive trait, however, the struggle underneath that veil of perfection can be miserable.
Symptoms of Perfectionism
It is probably important to note that everyone can show signs of perfectionism here and there. The real struggle is when perfectionism starts impacting your life, such as:
- Procrastination: It’s difficult to start a task when you feel like it needs to be completed perfectly.
- Defensiveness: Feedback is difficult for you to hear and accept.
- “One Man Show”: You can’t delegate tasks because no one could meet your standards.
- Focus on Mistakes: It’s hard to see any of your success because you are so focused on your mistakes.
- You “SHOULD” All Over Yourself: You have such high standards for yourself and what you should be doing.
- Fear of Failure: Failure isn’t an option; you must succeed and often that fear of failure is your motivation.
- “All or Nothing” Thinking: You make one small mistake and the whole thing is ruined.
- Unhealthy Relationships: you don’t open up to others for fear of being imperfect.
- Beating Yourself Up: you are very critical of yourself and often, have unattainable expectations.
If you feel like you are negatively impacted by perfectionism, please reach out! I would love to work with you. Schedule a free consultation or complete an interest form for the Perfectionists Telehealth Group today!