We all set standardsfor ourselves in work, hobbies, and our personal lives. Settingstandards and goals are the most effective way to constantly worktowards what we want in life. And being serious about achievement andpersonal success is important. But there is a need for balance andgrace, giving yourself room to make mistakes and possibly fail whiletrying to be your best. Being too much of a perfectionist leaves noroom for error, and can be unhealthy for you and difficult for thoseclosest to you. If you feel like you may be a little too harsh onyourself or others, check out these 11 signs that you’re too muchof a perfectionist.
You can’thandle making mistakes.
If you leaveyourself no room to ever make mistakes, then you likely have an issuewith perfectionism. You likely cannot leave errors for long, feelingan immediate need to correct them.
You deal inabsolutes.
You may feel likeeverything has to be all or nothing, in that either you have donewell or poorly, with no room for gray area. Things are either totallyright or wrong, good or bad.
You haveunrealistic expectations of yourself and others.
Not only is it hardon yourself to maintain unrealistic standards, but it is extremelytaxing on your loved ones if you constantly force them to attempt tomeet them as well.
You have lowself-esteem.
Constantly holdingyourself to unrealistic expectations will leave you in a place ofconsistent failure. Failing repeatedly can lead you to think poorlyof yourself, when really you never stood a chance at success withimpossibly high standards.
You are neversatisfied.
Even when once he orshe has achieved wildly difficult goals, a perfectionist will stillfeel like it’s not enough. Perfectionists are never satisfied andalways mentally downplay their own accomplishments.
You only careabout results.
Perfectionists willfind a way to achieve their desired results, by any means necessary.Regardless of their own personal happiness or safety, or that ofothers, they will do anything for results.
You feelextremely emotional when you don’t get what you envisioned.
Even if yourintended outcome is skewed by the slightest change in detail, you mayfeel emotionally volatile. This could include feeling angry,depressed, disappointed, or frustrated.
You get lost inthe details.
Having a case ofextreme perfectionism can cause you to spend an insane amount of timeon minuscule details of a project or assignment. Many perfectionistsfind themselves barely meeting or even missing deadlines because theyare too wrapped up in perfection.
You are overlycritical and judgmental of others.
If you areconstantly pointing out the errors in others’ work, performance, oreven behavior—no matter how great their work is or accommodatingtheir personality is—you are likely a perfectionist.
You can’t takeconstructive criticism.
Failure is theend-all for perfectionists. So even the tiniest suggestion, piece ofadvice of constructive criticism can send them into full-on defensemode.
You can neveradmit when you’re wrong.
No matter how perfect you try to be, everyone is wrong at some point. If you find yourself never able to admit or even realize that you are wrong, you are likely a perfectionist.
