The Joy Of Imperfection: 18 Simple Steps to Silencing Your Inner Critic, Overcoming Perfectionism, and Embracing Your Imperfect Life! (Self-Help Books for Busy People Book 2)

by Damon Zahariades

This category of perfectionism is defined as endeavoring to meet high standards, but recognizing that true perfection is an unreasonable expectation.

striving to meet unrealistic goals, and expecting to accomplish them every time.

Maladaptive perfectionists aggressively maintain unreasonably high standards, and are highly critical of themselves when they fail to meet them.

All of them stem from fear, anxiety, unhappiness, and/or an unfair conviction regarding how one’s worth should be measured.

The effort inevitably leads to frustration and despair. After all, mistakes are unavoidable. They’re a part of being human.

Teaching trying to hide mistakes

Whichever of the two triggers is present, one thing is certain: a person whose happiness is contingent upon effecting predictably perfect outcomes will be apprehensive when failure is a possibility.

Scene with sister painted Little Women

Perfectionists are intolerant of mistakes, in themselves and others. They hold the people around them to the same high standards they impose upon themselves.

While attending high school and college, I hated working on group projects. I needed to be in control because I was convinced that I was the most capable person in the room (hubris was my constant companion).

In the end, tasks are never finished. Projects are never started. Ideas are never acted upon. And goals are left unrealized. The perfectionist’s all-or-nothing mindset prevents him or her from completing work, or discourages him or her from starting it at all.