I am a recovering perfectionist. Perfectionism is a misguided attempt to avoid failure and to gain approval. Why do we want perfect? Because we all want love and respect. I wanted “perfect” at as a child so that I would be “good” in the eyes of two very critical parents. I wanted even more “perfect” in art school in an attempt to escape art critiques unscathed.
Why is perfectionism so very misguided?
Because:
- Perfect does not exist
- No on but you really cares about your perfect, they don’t even notice
- Perfect kills creativity
- Perfect crushes your confidence
- Perfect is incredibility inefficient, nothing gets done and that is stressful and only disappointing
Here are 10 ways perfectionism hurt me.
- It delayed my success and happiness. Even though wanted to start a business for a long time, I waited because I believed that I had to have “all of the information.” Which I never had and I still don’t.
- Perfectionism caused me to work too long and hard eating up limited time and valuable energy.
- Perfectionism torqued a clear view of my art. If I did not achieve the fussy vision in my head of what I was striving for, I would destroy art that was actually really good.
- Perfectionism fueled my debilitating anxiety and all of the health consequences that anxiety triggers.
- Perfectionism made other people around me uncomfortable because they where not sure that they could meet my impossible standards.
- Perfectionism made me uptight instead of enjoying opportunities to just relax.
- Perfectionism preventing me from experimenting, blocking progress.
- Instead of embracing accidents and letting creativity flow, my perfectionism choked my creativity and I felt the sting of failure harder.
- Perfectionism made me feel as if I was always failing and it clouded the reality that I was actually progressing.
- Perfectionism killed my confidence. Why? “Confidence is being willing to fail in front of others.” Craig Swanson, Co Founder of Creative Live