If you’re a perfectionist, chances are you already know it. But if you’re wondering, “Could this be me?” here are five common perfectionist tendencies:
- You don’t settle for second best.
- You give up on tasks you don’t think will turn out perfectly.
- You are overly critical of mistakes.
- Your world falls apart when you don’t achieve perfection.
- You don’t like asking for help
While a healthy dose of perfectionism can propel you to achieve your goals, it can also leave you striving to meet hopelessly unrealistic standards. And there’s a giant leap from a healthy pursuit of your dreams to a need for absolute perfectionism.
Here are five practices to help you manage your perfectionism:
- Be aware and stop comparing yourself to others – you never can win!
- Enjoy your mistakes – it’s part of the journey, and mistakes help you grow
- Trust the process – let go and welcome the mishaps
- Perfection is impossible – aiming for good enough is being realistic and gives you time to enjoy life
- Cut yourself some slack – embrace ALL of yourself, including your flaws