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Success Road Block Alert! - Can Perfection prevent Success?
By Kiara Lay | February 18, 2008
Perfection is a trait that is highly priced in our society. God forbade if we are to say we are not striving for perception. Many of us are proud to put perfection down as a personal trait. Who would have thought that perfection could cost you success or happiness in life?
Perfectionism is a good thing, it is the driving force behind excellence. With too little demand of perfection we will not stretch to our full potential. It only becomes harmful psychologically and in consequences when the person is motivated by fear of failure rather than passion of what they’re doing. Perfectionism motivated by fear, creates a festering ground for deep seated dissatisfaction with life as the person keep thinking that things could be done better.
It is important to identify your motivation to be a perfectionist, as the wrong motivation towards perfection could be a major road block to your journey to success. In fact, it might even keep you rooted and stuck at the starting point! Shocking revelation isn’t it?
What are the two different motivations to be a perfectionist…
Perfectionism motivated by fear of failure applies mostly to people who has a constant need for approval from others, too high standards for themselves to meet, endless anxiety with inability to cope with situations, no help from others who handle failures or successes well.
On the other hand, perfectionism motivated by the passion of excellence applies mostly to people that has a belief that mistakes are opportunities to learn, a high need for organization and discipline, the ability to set reasonable, achievable standards that require hard work, and positive role models who accept their own mistakes and will encourage them to do their personal best.
Pause and Think: Which type of Perfectionist are you?
Since this article is aimed to alert you of how negative motivation of perfectionism will prevent you from achieving success, let us focus on the “negative aspects of being motivated by fear of failure” to discourage you from continuing on this path:
Perfectionists motivated by fear of failure often have health problems relating to the constant stress they put upon themselves.
They have unrealistically high standards and judge themselves or others as always falling short, often resulting in being extremely critical of themselves and others, depression, feeling in inadequacy and low self-esteem.
Driven to focus on living up and achieving to their perfect ideal, makes it difficult for the perfectionist to enjoy the journey of getting there. Instead of cultivating existing positive qualities, they are busy fixing everything that’s seemingly imperfect. As a result, they lost out in enjoying the peaceful experience of being present in every moment.
The solution to clear this road block towards your personal success:
Become a perfectionist who is motivated by the passion of excellence towards what you love to do!
Accept yourself as a human with flaws (we are called to be “God-like” not to be God).
Know that mistakes are not the end of the world; it does not mean you are stupid or useless, and mistakes can be good opportunities for growth.
Stop to smell the roses, enjoy the journey instead of focusing on the goal.
Recognize that anxiety and stress arises because of unrealistic goals, set goals in line with your capabilities.
Understand that more gets done if 100% perfection isn’t necessary, stop second-guessing yourself.
Give up the irrational belief that relationships must be perfect, the only perfect relationship you will have in your lifetime is with your Creator. (Point 1 explains it all)
Be compassionate with yourself and others. Don’t try to keep “fixing” other “less perfect” human beings or work projects, unless you are really omnipotent.
Life rewards the genuine passion and spirit we bring to all our actions. In giving our best at any point of time, is more than good enough.
Topics: Success Building |