Are You a Perfectionist? Look at some of the characteristics and decide!

Perfectionists are often equally driven by a need to excel and a fear of failure. A perfectionist will often go to unrealistic lengths to avoid being average or mediocre. They believe that if they don’t excel, they failed! They may realize that they put undo stress on themselves, they continue to do more than is required and are critical of those who don’t.

Perfectionists take things personally. While they may be critical of others, they feel hurt if someone says anything negative about who they are or what they did. To a perfectionist, even a suggestion for improvement, can be seen as a harsh criticism and they become defensive.

Perfectionists have a hard time asking for help. They feel they should know how to do it and if they ask for help, they are
admitting defeat. Asking for help makes them feel vulnerable or inadequate.

Perfectionists procrastinate. Because they want to do it perfectly, perfectionists will put off doing a task because they “don’t have enough time to do it right.”

Good enough is not good enough for a perfectionist. They will focus on what was not done rather than all they accomplished. On a rating scale, if they don’t always get the top mark, there is a part of them that feels like a failure.

Perfectionists don’t forget their own or others’ past mistakes. They know that they should move on, but that is difficult for a perfectionist. They continue to beat themselves up even if others have long since forgotten the situation. A perfectionist will often bring up past issues even if they are not relevant to the current conversation.

Perfectionists have a hard time enjoying other people’s successes. For a perfectionist, life is a competition and they feel that if someone else wins, they lose. They find themselves hoping for others to fail, even though they know it isn’t the right thing to do.

Does this sound like you? if so, you may be a perfectionist.