The Best Life

Being a perfectionist can do you in. Excellence is what you should seek to achieve. Psalm 8:1 tells us that God is an Excellent God.  While we all know he also perfect, we also know that we will never attain perfectionism in the lifetime.

If there’s one thing that can really hamper a person, it’s perfectionism. It’s like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, because it seems to be heading in the right direction, but it’s actually way too much of a good thing. It’s good to be interested in excellence, but when you feel that your work (or relationship) has to be perfect you’re saddling yourself with a burden nobody needs and one that can affect every area of your life. You won’t be able to please yourself at work or at home because nothing and no one are perfect.

Some years ago I read some great points on how perfectionism hinders people.  (If only I could remember where…)

1. Perfectionism can lead to isolation. You won’t let people get too close to you lest they perceive your short-comings. This leaves you without alliances and out of the loop at work and alone at home.

2. Perfectionism also makes you a poor risk-taker and taking risks is often required in business. Perfectionists become dysfunctional when something comes up that they’ve never seen before, or if they’re asked to try something different that seems risky to them. It can also keep you from meeting deadlines.

3. When you’re a perfectionist, your timidity and concern won’t always be perceived as that; more often it’s perceived as arrogance. It appears to others that you think you’re better than them, because you have an exalted standard of performance for yourself.

4. When your goal is perfection, it becomes difficult to make decisions and to meet deadlines. You’re always trying to out-think yourself.

5. Perfectionists are often micro-managers. They’re afraid to let anyone else do anything, because of the unrealistic standard of perfection.

As you can see, there are many ways perfectionism holds you back, and very little good it does. Excellence is good; perfectionism is not; so don’t let yourself fall in that trap. If you have tendencies in that direction, pursue excellence, you’ll do better and everyone else will appreciate it.