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Being perfectionist: How good or bad is this?

Are you termed as a perfectionist by your friends? Any idea how good or bad being a perfectionist is? It depends, as per psychologists.

Ever thought what geniuses like Michael Jackson, Steve Jobs and Leonardo Da Vinci had in common?  They were talented, and of course, they were perfectionists.

In simple terms, anyone who has the tendency to refuse any standard which is short of his perceived standard of perfection is termed as a perfectionist. Some people may look at them as nuts, delusional and someone who has the tendency to stress out anyone and everyone around them.

Perfectionism has always been a favorite subject of study for the psychologists which include studies of its inherent creative wonders as well as its embedded destructive qualities.

Although psychologists have divided opinions on this, the primary characteristic of a perfectionist is his monumental concern about avoiding or making mistakes. They are overly driven by their perceived fear of failure, and this very drive of theirs is the motivating force which helps them to achieve seemingly impossible goals. In another view, they think they are not as good as they actually are and hence, they end up investing an enormous amount of time and energy in doing things perfectly. This is called as an adaptive manifestation for impostor syndrome, in psychological parlance.

Both Friedrich Wilheim Nietzsche and Alfred Adler have termed this disposition of perfectionists as    “inferiority complex” for greatness. They reasoned that behind any extraordinary achievement, there are self doubt and painful insecurities. Success serves as just an antidote of temporary nature which heals these unpleasant emotions to some extent.

I know a ‘perfectionist’ friend of mine who has not always been so. His brain received the infiltration of ‘perfectionism’, though only partially, while he was perhaps in high school. It is only when he reached college the full-blown perfectionism got the better of him and everyone around him started labeling him as a bit of a ‘perfectionist’. In his case, it cannot be termed as a bad trait at all. Perfectionism seemingly helped him to excel in studies and other departments more than he ever did all his life before.

For some others, of course, I have seen that perfectionism hindered their ‘progress’ to some extent.  So, I am of the opinion that, like most of the things in life, perfectionism also has its fair share of both good and bad.

Some of the pros and cons of being a perfectionist are mentioned below:

Pros

  1. Perfectionists push themselves for that ‘extra mile’, although they may not be interested in the thing. The urge for doing well in anything and everything works as the motivating factor for them.
  2. They give their best at matters which is not exactly their forte at all. Even if the task assigned to them is beyond their KRA (Key Resource Areas), they will show no excuses and will give their one hundred percent. These kinds of people will make perfect employees any organization would wish for.
  3. People around a ‘perfectionist’ would think of him as someone to look up to as he generally excels in a lot of things. They admire how hard he works for every single task at hand.
  4. People think a perfectionist to be a perfect candidate for assigning any task as he seems to have loads of determination, motivation, drive, and persistence – qualities people would like to see in a worker.
  5. A perfectionist is most likely to persist with a task for umpteenth time till he thinks it is perfect. He thrives to have that amazing feel of watching the completion of something people perceive to be ‘impossible’. He takes immense pride in making the impossible possible.
  6. He hates to see a failure from himself at any task, no matter how small it is. This makes him try harder and harder at any task at hand.

Cons

  1. A perfectionist just cannot handle (emotionally) anything which he thinks is short of ‘perfection’. If he has not been able to accomplish anything as per his perceived standard of ‘perfection’, he thinks it is a failure on his part or he has done something wrong.
  2. Due to his urge of attaining ‘perfection’ even at things out of his area of expertise, he tends to harm his own core-competency. He takes stress over things he is not adept to do usually.
  3. As he feels he needs to stand up to the expectation of people around him as a ‘perfectionist’, he often stresses himself too much to live up to that ‘impossible’ standard. He is mortified about the thought that someone will discover himself to be as imperfect as any ordinary person around.
  4. He cannot prioritize his work schedule. As he needs to show determination, motivation, drive, and persistence at all the works at hand, he fails to provide a matter the utmost attention it desires.
  5. As he seeks perfection in works of other people too, he often annoys people around him by editing and correcting everything done by other people.
  6. As perfectionists always try hard to look at his best, he cannot get on with his work fast or cannot always accomplish projects on time. He tends to spend a lot of time in non-important aspects, in pursuit of his perceived standard of ‘perfection’. He wastes so much energy and time while trying to complete non-important and little things that he falls short of time and quality in accomplishing the overall task at hand.
  7. He cannot accept a failure from himself and ends up finding ways to punish himself. This eventually may cause mental and even physical harm to him.

The footnote

Perfectionism is ok as long as it is not unproductive. Perfectionism, when not coupled with work ethic, great ability or resilience can lead to delaying tactics or other self demeaning behaviors.

Perfectionists are much better off when they concentrate on themselves, rather than bothering about what people around them would think.

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