Being (with) a perfectionist means suffering

The pursuit of perfection is often celebrated as a virtue. Perfection is what leads us continuously to improve our efforts. While this may sound like a good thing, in the long run it may be more harmful.

Here are at least four reasons why you should stop dreaming of perfection as an ideal goal.

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Perfectionism causes excessive stress

Perfectionists take the view things are rarely good enough, and that stresses them out. They go through life constantly worrying that everything should be perfect. This is unhealthy thinking as it prevents you feeling satisfied and fulfilled from work. If you do not control your desire for perfection, you can easily experience burnout.

If you give up on perfection, you will cope better with change

Change is the only constant. So if you focus on keeping things perfect, you will be frustrated by every change. Don't try to have all your plans perfectly prepared. Accept a change that might come when it does come: you too will be able to work with it.

Without striving for perfection, you will stop being afraid to take risks

The more you pursue perfection, the more you resist risking. Perfectionism is often driven by an extreme fear of failure. It creates blocks of thought in your mind that prevent you from trying things. You avoid new opportunities and various challenges, although you could eventually take advantage of them.

Perfectionism is a way of thinking that prevents you from applying for a new job or a better position. It will keep you in the same place with almost no room for growth or progress. The fear of failure then becomes an unexpected obstacle to success. Once you get rid of the need for perfection, you will be able to take risks and become more open to new experiences.

Perfectionism suppresses creativity

The desire for perfection also suffocates your creative impulses. Having once achieved the best way to do something, you will no longer rely on your creativity or imagination to solve problems. Your work will suffer from a lack of innovation in the long run. In contrast, being creative will help you grow as a person and give you a unique personality. This makes life much more fun and fulfilling than the pursuit of perfection.

And one more thing: working with perfectionists is really difficult: whether the perfectionist is a client, customer or colleague, it is very hard to get along with such a person. Even many salespeople prefer to give up client-perfectionists because it would cost them more effort than the benefits. And it doesn't matter at all how good the product is. It really is exclusively the human factor that can cause failure.


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Article source Addicted2Success - web focused on personal development and reaching success in business and life
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