“I like doing things right”. If you are one of those people who make an effort that everything goes well, we congratulate you, because the sense of responsibility and the capacity for effort are very valuable characteristics. But be careful if you tend to take this to the extreme because perfectionism can turn against you. Curiously, perfectionism is considered a virtue in all job interviews; Companies want perfectionist workers who do not allow themselves to make any mistakes, however, it has been shown that an excessive desire for perfection has a negative impact on productivity. Not to mention the risks posed by perfectionism in social relationships.
Perfectionism and self esteem
- Perfectionists are generally considered to be successful people, with a strong character and a great personality. But when perfectionism is taken to the extreme, we are facing insecure people, full of fears and with a constant need for approval from others. In short, these are people with low self-esteem.
- It is true that we live in a very competitive society where we, especially women, are required to be the most beautiful, the youngest, the most prepared, the most efficient and the most organized. This interest in being perfect and not making mistakes is instilled in us from childhood and in our ambition for perfection we forget that true success is being happy. And for better or worse, mistakes are an important part of that path to happiness.
- The level of self-demand grows in some people to the point that if things do not go as expected, they consider it a true failure. And that fear of failure is what prevents them from undertaking activities that are beyond their control but that could enrich them on a personal level.
Perfectionism generates anxiety
- Perfectionists must also be recognized for their desire to excel, their high motivation and their capacity for effort, because they are still important aspects to achieve our goals. But when the objective or goal that we set for ourselves is absolute perfection in everything we do, it can lead us to suffer from certain health disorders.
- Some eating disorders such as anorexia are closely related to this desire for perfectionism. People who suffer from anorexia are characterized by their great willpower to stay away from food in their search for what they consider to be bodily perfection. But one of the most frequent problems of perfectionists is anxiety.
- The anxiety disorder associated with perfectionism derives from that extreme attitude towards life of considering that things are either perfect or bad, with no room for the middle ground. It is evident that no one can do things perfectly, so all your effort is slowed down by reality and it is the moment in which the feeling of fear and anxiety appears. Perfectionists continually demand to do things according to strict rules that they consider to be correct as well as necessary, which is why they tend to be very critical of themselves and of others. An attitude that generally leads to social rejectionand that can end up socially isolating an excessively perfectionist person.