Perfectionist

riddles

Hi

this article discusses the impact of being a perfectionist and how it becomes a limiting condition. The suggest seems to be - refocus the mind on excellence as an antidote to the corrosive impact of perfectionist tendencies. Do anyone has additional information relating to this and in particular supporting teenagers here?

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jan/02/great-expectations-the-quest-for-perfection-has-cannibalised-my-identity

Thx

JuliusCaesar

The problem is always that perfection is unattainable. So the quest to be perfect/produce perfect work or performance is bound to be frustrated - you'll never get there.

The best discussion around this is always: is perfectionism useful to you? Or is it interfering with your enjoyment/actions? Is it helping you, or hindering you?

There are always more disadvantages than advantages to perfectionism. People procrastinate eg writing an essay, or they'll write and re-write, and re-write again to the point it'll never be submitted, or only after several extentions, but was the last version really that much better than the first to justify the time and effort? It's all about the fear of failure (mediocrity is failure, in the perfectionist's eyes) so either they attempt the essay but it takes forever and it's still not perfect, or they guve up at the first hurdle "it's too difficult!"

https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/Resources/Looking-After-Yourself/Perfectionism is a good resource.

Nice diagram here: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-Revised-Cognitive-Behavioural-Model-of-Clinical-Perfectionism-Note-Diagram-from_fig1_258206639