Are you the sort of person who can get something 99% right, and then worry a lot about the other 1%. If so, then your are really a perfectionist; you seek perfection when others around you would be delighted with that 99% achievement. If you are involved in something, have a passion for getting it right, and then when just a small part goes wrong, it leaves you feeling responsible and a failure, then again you are a perfectionist; someone seeking perfection in every part of your life, or maybe just one or several parts of your life.
There can be a few reasons why this happens, so here are a few tips on how to make your seeking perfection work for you rather than against you.
In many ways, society brings us up to “do our best”, even from the early parts of our lives. In school we are expected to get good grades, and also do well in sports. The same pattern follows us through high school, college and university. We are constantly aware, as we grow up, that people around us anticipate good results from us. We are, almost inadvertently, trained to think that anything less then perfection is not acceptable.
Then, when something goes wrong, we take the blame upon ourselves, and thus aggravate what is only a very small problem. Living up to our own, and others' expectations of us, is difficult and we often act with the fear of failing, of not achieving perfection.
So, how can some of these negative aspects of perfectionism be turned to our favour? The first thing to do should be to allow your emotions to surface. Perfectionism does not permit any mistakes.
However, you need to remember that the people around you are just like yourself, and definitely not perfect. They will get relate to you better if you show your real self, than if you try to hide behind a mask of perfection. Making a simple mistake will not make you a failure in the eyes of others. On the contrary, they may be relieved to see that you are human after all. You can always turn a small mistake into a good joke, whatever your situation.
Why not give up your search for perfection, and replace it with something that works even better: being authentic? You cannot fool everyone all the time, and it is not possible to act out a role in your business and social life. Of course, a mistake should be acknowledged and you should try to correct. But remember, you can improve yourself by learning from your mistakes. That is an important part of progressing through life, from beginning to end.
By seeking perfection, and having an ambition to get everything perfect, lessens the chances of your enjoying life itself. You can never achieve perfection, thus you will never be completely happy if you demand perfection of yourself. Just relax and be the authentic person you truly are.
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