The Curse of Perfectionism
October 6th, 2008. Published under The Ultimate You. No Comments.
Are you a perfectionist? If you are never satisfied with you performance unless you come out on top, you may actually be setting yourself up for poor job performance. By avoiding criticism, you also limit your creativity.
Randy O. Frost, a psychologist who researches our perfection obsession, administered a writing test and found that perfectionists are actually worse writers than students who are less success driven. We improve our skills through receiving criticism and building upon it. If you avoid all negative comments, you will never grow.
Perfectionists are also at risk for eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, depression, divorce, and even suicide, according to an article in Psychology Today. Unrealistic expectations can have a negative on both your physical health and your moral character. Perfection-driven individuals are more likely to cover-up mistakes they make on the job because their fear of criticism is so great. In other words, we don’t want perfectionists working in high-risk careers, because they can jeopardize both their own safety and that of others.
Do yourself a favor. Set realistic goals. Admit your failures. Mistakes exist so we can learn from them. Perfection is an unattainable goal, so set your sights on a different prize.