- What is the perfectionist personality?
- The paradox of perfection in real life
- Perfectionist Personality Traits
Are you one of those people who always prefers that everything in your life turn out as planned? Or are you more of those who get carried away by improvisation?
Although it is true that it is preferable to have an action plan to carry out and develop our goals in life, clinging to everything going well can make us rigid and distant people who do not enjoy the most minimum of their lives, but prefer to maintain a facade of eternal perfection before others.
But is someone's life that perfect and pristine? No, this could not be further from the reality that perfectionists live, since by constantly worrying about their future they do not realize that their present is deteriorating.Their obsession with perfection is so intense that even when they achieve a long-awaited success or goal, they are not interested in celebrating it, because they analyze the most insignificant mistake, criticize the steps they took or are already planning their next move to reach even higher.
We emphasize here that we do not want to insinuate that you are thinking about your next step or want to continue improving in your life is something negative, but that you allow yourself to enjoy the whole process, those around you and the lessons that failures can leave you.
With all this, we only have to ask you: do you consider yourself a perfectionist? If you want to find out then keep reading this article, because we will talk about perfectionist personality traits.
What is the perfectionist personality?
Perfectionist people, perfectionism or 'Perfectionist Syndrome' is a type of distorted personality, characterized by having the firm belief that everything in their lives should be carried out with extraordinary success, from common household habits to your professional success.This implies an in-depth analysis of the options at hand to choose the most viable to execute and that involves the fewest possible mistakes, they are intensely looking for a way to reduce even this possibility to none.
Since a single mistake causes them significant emotional distress and they tend to abandon something they consider a waste of time or become obsessed with a goal until they achieve it perfectly. This shows that they are actually people with great insecurity in their abilities and seek ways to constantly test themselves, regardless of their own mental, physical or emotional stability.
The paradox of perfection in real life
Everything around us demands perfection, studies, maintaining our he alth, developing a skill, our professions, love life, etc., since doing everything perfectly is a sign of how capable we are, so it is even a sign to admire. But… How much are we willing to sacrifice to achieve perfection? Does this imply having to put aside the enjoyment of our own life just to do things without a gram of error?
The obsession with perfection can bring severe consequences to our he alth, since it results in a constant low mood, due to worries, stress and anxiety about the decisions we make or the results we want to find. In addition, the search for moments of relaxation is reduced, which decreases the necessary rest for the body and even develops sleep disorders.
It also brings problems in the interpersonal and intimate sphere by not dedicating enough time to relationships, so it is not strange to see perfectionists always walking alone on their way to success that is never enough .
Perfectionist Personality Traits
Knowing all the implications that this personality brings with it, it is time for you to know the traits that define it.
one. Overly methodical
This is the most outstanding characteristic of the perfectionist personality, since in their permanent search to achieve nothing less than perfection they become obsessed with the smallest details. In such a way that they are excessively rigid with their attitude and with the plans they draw up to achieve something, even in daily tasks, to avoid any margin of error and they do not conform until they follow this pattern to the letter.
2. Need for control and order
Because they are very methodical in the way they perform in any area of their lives, they have the permanent need to have control of their actions as well as an ideal organization so that they can be carried out cape.It is not surprising that perfectionists are inclined to do everything on their own, without requiring the help of anyone or working as a team, unless they can have the upper hand and everyone follows their rules exactly as they do.
3. No margin for error
For perfectionists, a mistake is synonymous with failure, regardless of its magnitude, the real impact it has on a matter, that it brings a new opportunity or that its lesson helps you improve. It may be a mistake that can be fixed, but having to deviate from his original plan as well as being stuck in a momentary obstacle puts a great deal of stress and emotional upset on him.
Even these can lead to other more negative behaviors such as panic attacks, a tendency to procrastination or depression.
4. All or nothing
Speaking of the tendency to procrastination, perfectionists rarely manage to finish a task completely, since to reach any goal they must go through inevitable obstacles and as this causes them frustration they prefer to leave a aside a task that they believe to be useless or delay it more and more for fear of failing.There is also the opposite extreme, where they can become so obsessed with reaching the set goal that no matter how much it costs them or how long it takes, they must achieve it.
5. They reject the opinions of others
They are extremely selfish and stubborn people, so it is normal to see them always working on their own since they only trust themselves and their vision to achieve the proposed objective. Which tends to bring problems with work or study colleagues who want to participate, give their opinion or stand out in said shared project, since the perfectionist person will reject their opinion and even more so their attempt to collaborate.
6. False liking
Perfectionism is not limited only to a person's abilities or performance at a professional level, but also implies maintaining an ideal personal image. So they strive to have a neat, formal and attractive appearance in the eyes of others around them, so that they can win their trust and let themselves be led by them.
This also implies false liking behaviors where the perfectionist person pretends to feel comfortable in a place, to like someone or to manifest a momentary camaraderie, as long as this benefits their appearance as a perfect person in all respects. senses.
7. Results Count
They are always absorbed and concerned about the result they will obtain in their performance, so they do not mind investing an excessive amount of time, energy and resources, if it leads to a favorable and excellent effect . This is the reason why they do not enjoy the creative process and creating something at all, but are always anxious to reach the end.
8. Farewell to leisure
And since they prefer to spend all their time immersed in a task until they make it perfect, they don't have time for their own enjoyment or with their social circle and may even hate it, because they see it as an unnecessary distraction for your success or that may harm your perfect image.
In addition, they do not see the need to take a break since this is unproductive with their performance, it is 'lost' time that they may be investing in some improvement or that interrupts their elaborate plans. When they take some kind of rest it is also planned, including the exact hours of sleep they will maintain.
9. Pessimistic trends
Pessimistic tendencies are very common among perfectionist people since they are always waiting for something bad to happen, they constantly criticize everything and maintain very high demands on themselves. Which does not allow them to enjoy or celebrate some kind of triumph, they are always visualizing the mistakes they have made and that at any moment they could fail (which is their greatest fear).
10. Lack of detachment
Perfectionists can be related to stingy and compulsive people, since they have trouble detaching themselves from objects even if they have no special value for them.If they believe that it is still functional in some way, they keep it, this behavior also leads them to try not to give up doing something, even if they have no idea how to do it.
eleven. Intense fear of failure
All those feelings of insecurity, pessimistic thoughts, constant stress and worries, and devaluing self-criticism is for the same reason: the intense fear of failure. This is because failure is the most reliable proof that they are not perfect and that is not acceptable under any circumstances, because if they can't be perfect, then can they be of any use?
12. Negative self-evaluations
Many people believe that perfectionists are constantly questioning and punishing the people around them when they don't do a task well and, even if this behavior exists, in reality perfectionists spend all the time cruelly criticizing themselves.Thinking negatively about their abilities, questioning their decisions, and carefully evaluating each step they take.
13. Own merits
This negative self-evaluation of course does not prevent them from seeking to have their own merit in their projects and for this reason they prefer to do everything in their own way and on their own, since they believe that it is the only ideal way to do it. That is why you will never see a perfectionist ask their colleagues for help to carry out a job (if they need it) or prefer teamwork, where they have to share the success or expose themselves to the opinions of others leading them to defeat.
14. High level of competitiveness
On the contrary, instead of asking his teammates for help, he sees them as enemies that he must defeat to reach his goal, so he dedicates himself more to proving his worth and standing out from the rest , especially in demonstrating that their ideas are the ones that bring the most perfect results.
fifteen. Moral Inflexibility
As we mentioned earlier, perfection is not limited to performance, nor is it limited to appearance, but also to your personal beliefs and values. For that reason, you can easily find yourself out of place or dislike a person who does not follow your same acceptable moral or social standards.
16. It's never enough
The goals that perfectionists set for themselves never end, this means that if they manage to reach the top, they will find a way to continue growing even by force, even if they do not have any apparent problem. Paradoxically, reaching their goal can become a kind of stagnation and for this reason they try to visualize: what can I do to improve and continue their perfection?