“How does one deal with a Perfectionist?” A colleague asked me recently.
Without knowing the full context, I couldn’t share a cookie-cutter view of how one could deal with a perfectionist. But I provided my colleague with a few perspectives that he hopefully found useful.
There is a thin line between striving for excellence and striving for Perfection. Excellence is all about giving your best in any situation. In contrast, Perfection tends to be an unhealthy obsession with flawlessness.
If you want to figure out whether you or someone else is suffering from a perfectionist mindset- here are some tell-tale identifiers.
- Do you obsess over and spend excessive time writing and rewriting a two-sentence email?
- Do you avoid trying a new activity for fear of being shown as less than perfect or being judged negatively?
- Being a high achiever, you struggle with an overwhelming pressure to live up to your previous achievements.
- You overthink what to say and shy away from saying anything in social interactions.
- When starting something new, you set unrealistic expectations for yourself and can’t seem to get started.
- Do you have a harsh “inner critic” constantly telling you that your work is not good enough?
A perfectionist is someone who is masquerading his insecurities as strengths !! Because by raising his standard to an impossible level, a perfectionist has a valid excuse to stop trying and avoid his work being judged, criticized, or rejected.
A perfectionist uses the idea of Perfection as an excuse for not shipping work.