7 Things Being a Perfectionist Robs You of ...

1. Satisfaction

Being a perfectionist can rob you of satisfaction. Perfection is hard to attain. It’s better to have a goal of doing your best than a goal of being perfect. You won’t have the satisfaction of a job well done if you’re focusing on the one little thing you didn’t get right. Choose to focus on how well you did instead of the one thing that isn’t perfect.

2. Relaxation

Perfectionists tend to not do very well at relaxing. They’re usually using most of their mental energy to figure out how to do better at things in their life. It’s great to want to do well at things but you also need to know how to turn that off and just relax. With practice, you can get better at relaxing. Maybe you can have a set time in the evening when you stop all schoolwork, work related tasks and household chores and just do something that makes you feel calm, like yoga or reading a good book.

3. Enjoying Life

Being a perfectionist can rob you of a lot of pleasure in your life. It’s is a good thing to give your best effort to whatever you’re doing, whether that’s school, your job or your relationships with others. The problem comes in when you aren’t satisfied with your best effort. Choose to celebrate how great you are at what you do. Then give yourself permission to have fun and enjoy things that bring you pleasure.

4. Self-Confidence

If you aren’t satisfied with anything less than perfect, your self-confidence can take a hit. You may feel badly about yourself because you believe you don’t do well enough at things you attempt to do. Chances are high that you’re the only one that sees yourself that way. More than likely, others admire how you excel at what you do. Ask a trusted friend their thoughts to get a balanced view.

5. Compliments

You can rob yourself of compliments when you’re a perfectionist. You may not be satisfied with the results of your efforts so you have a hard time believing others are. When someone gives you a compliment, choose to believe they really like what they see. Treasure their kind words. You can also give their compliment some thought. Sometimes it helps you see that you really are too hard on yourself.

6. Optimism

You generally aren’t very optimistic if you’re a perfectionist. Instead of focusing on the 99% you did wonderfully, you focus on the 1% that still needs work. That can really bring you down. It’s good to know where you can improve but it’s also important to acknowledge how great you’re already doing something. This helps you to be a more optimistic person.

7. Fun

Perfectionism isn’t much fun. Maybe you need to work on not taking things so seriously. You may discover that there’s a lot of fun to be had when you don’t spend so much time worrying over what you aren’t doing perfectly. I understand this struggle. I’ve had my own battles with perfectionism but have learned that when I don’t obsess over things, I have a lot more fun.

Are you a perfectionist? How have you learned to deal with it? I’d love to hear from you.