Advantages and disadvantages of being too much of a perfectionist

Are you a perfectionist? Be careful, don't let it get out of hand!

It is clear, we all have an interest in learning and improving in different areas or aspects of our life. For people with a marked trait of perfectionism, it is the pursuit of excellence that motivates them to improve. Being meticulous, restrained, persevering, responsible... are characteristics that can accompany the perfectionist tendencies of the human being, being able to bring out the best in himself. However, frustration, anxiety, stubbornness and lack of effectiveness can be the worst enemies of this same behavior profile.

How to differentiate a "good" perfectionism from that which is not?At what point can being too much of a perfectionist backfire on yourself? We analyze below the details that help us to extract the best of this personality trait.

People with adaptive perfectionism

People who function through adaptive perfectionism, or well, have these characteristics:

• They set lofty, motivating goals for themselves, assuming them as challenges, but these objectives are realistic and achievable according to their conditions and achievable.
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• The person has a good expectation from self-efficacyshe, that is, she knows that she can and that she will achieve those goals, but accepting that they are not fully met or in the way that she has planned.

• In general, they are demanding people with themselvesBut they do not fear mistakes or mistakes, but accept them as part of life, so they do not give up easily to frustration.

• They are people with extraordinary planning and organization, but with enough flexibility to handle setbacks or unpredictable issues.

• Accomplished perfectionist people are able to enjoy and focus on their workThey do not focus exclusively on the final result, but are able to learn and attend to the steps required by the process.

• Another advantage of adaptive perfectionism is that it enables us to understand and bear that there is a certain degree uncontrollable in what happens in the day to day, so that we become more tolerant to the uncertainty.

• Adaptive perfectionism is accompanied by significant self-reinforcement Y a good self esteem. Thus, the person is able to value his strengths, reward himself for his achievements and take care of himself.

• The person with adaptive perfectionism capable of enjoying a wide variety of activities and of disconnecting despite the inconveniences or small imperfections to which you are exposed every day at work, personal relationships ...

People with maladaptive perfectionism

In the end, adaptive perfectionism is based on allowing yourself the freedom to not be perfect, and ultimately, to be human. It is clear that the profile we have described is highly desired and highly praised on a social, personal and professional level.

But… What happens when we exceed limits in which the person begins to experience suffering? In this case, we would speak of a maladaptive perfectionism, with the following characteristics:

• These people set too many goals for themselves that are not realistic when it comes to being fulfilled.

• They emphasize being excessively orderly and controlling. and he tends to waste a lot of time on these aspects and on irrelevant details, losing focus on what is truly important.

• A person with maladaptive perfectionism worries a lot about mistakesher, that she cannot bear to commit, and she is excessively afraid of criticism from others.

• He does not enjoy his work, focuses only on the result and the reinforcement that she will get from others. When she doesn't get this, she suffers a lot.

• Think that her work is never good enough and that she can always do better, so that she has the feeling that she never finishes tasks or leaves them incomplete.

• Emphasize everything that is wrong, instead of acknowledging what is well done. This leads to a weaker self-esteem as you despise your strengths and focus on your weaknesses.

• The excessive self-demand for perfectionism leads him to develop high levels of anxiety and suffering. He does not tolerate his own error and sometimes that of others.

• It is difficult for you to disconnect from the goals of perfectionSometimes she can get into a loop where she can't stop thinking about how to keep improving, correcting mistakes, or what she still needs to do.

• Does not tolerate frustration which means not being perfect, not doing everything right or not controlling it 100%.

Concluding

Maladaptive perfectionism is a way of taking life goals that has great drawbacks. Despite the great efforts made by those who adopt this style of perfectionism, these people always are frustrated, tired or anxious and will not always perform as well as they could if they took a slightly more attitude flexible.

We all like to do things very well, even perfect sometimes, but that does not mean that we cannot accept our imperfections from ourselves.