The Perfectionism Trap

Perfectionism is described as a strong desire for perfection without a mature or sufficient grasp of what it takes to achieve it.

4 min readDec 31, 2021

Perfectionism has been linked to anxiety, depression, and eating disorders, all of which have increased in recent years, and on the physical side, it’s responsible for various health difficulties such as high blood pressure. This is not the kind of perfectionism that leads to greater happiness and satisfaction, but the kind that is extremely harmful to one’s self-esteem, self-worth, and mental and physical health.

The pursuit of excellence puts unnecessary pressure on people to achieve something that is not necessarily possible or even desirable from a human point of view. When fear and self-criticism occur to us, it is so easy and so tempting to try to regain control by trying to make EVERYTHING perfect. We are constantly bombarded with images of other people who seemingly live their dreams and achieve perfection, and we can feel inferior if our lives are not the same.

When people adopt this way of thinking, it can be very painful to feel the slightest feeling of disapproval, or there can be intense feelings of shame or self-punishment when they make a mistake. It is easy to see how feelings of self-criticism can be directed towards criticizing others. It also tends to make people more anxious when, in the presence of others, you “decide” to transcend them in some way.

The trap of perfectionism lies not in striving to improve one’s skills, but in the idea that failure is not a critical and incredibly valuable component of creativity. However, while perfectionism can undermine our self-esteem, few of us would like to give up our drive to develop and grow. The pursuit of excellence may be overwhelming, but a perfectionist may feel that their success is the only thing that keeps them alive.

The demand for perfection may be overwhelming, but perfectionists will also feel that their success is the only factor that hinders their progress. Normal perfectionists can set high standards for themselves without falling into punitive self-criticism. Although this may be a beautiful and productive trait, perfectionists often run into trouble when they become too rigid in their thinking, goals, or standards.

Especially for the many leaders who adhere to the perfectionist model. Going deeper into what is holding them back is perfectionism. To summarize, perfectionism is unfounded, unattainable, and can lead to massive personal losses. My point is that perfectionism is essentially a counterproductive trap.

The sooner you sever the connection between how you look, what you have accomplished, or what you have, and your self-esteem, the happier and healthier you will be. Learn to understand the deeper reasons for your perfectionism. If you think you are a perfectionist or have certain perfectionist tendencies, then you are likely to identify with at least one of these perfectionist traps.

Those who try to avoid something are usually driven by fear, which deprives us of the joy of achieving it. If we want to make progress, we need to push ourselves out of our comfort zone, take risks, and accept that we will make mistakes, as we will (hopefully) learn from them. For me, continuous improvement is a better and more pleasant result than perfection.

Perfectionism is the belief that we should be perfect at all times and in all aspects. For 27 years, psychologists have researched perfectionism. They surveyed 40,000 young people in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The degree to which people give irrational meaning to perfectionism increased by 10%, and, alarmingly, there was a 33% increase in the degree to which people believed they needed to look perfect to gain approval.

Perfectionism is a coping style that has been established to help us feel better and adapt to the demands that are being placed on us. This is very tempting and sounds perfect as a plan early on, because we feel like we are getting our lives back on track and that we have the inner resources to thrive and motivate ourselves. The new goal, of course, is to help us achieve the highest goal in life — to become perfect.

A crowded job market, particularly for demanding and creative jobs, combined with high housing prices and inflation, is pushing young people and their parents to go to greater lengths to gain an advantage over others.It also means that perfectionism can grow out of very different childhood experiences. They will not learn to listen to their feelings and bodies and give themselves what they need on occasion, and they will certainly not learn to cope with failure and fear of failure. Practice can be very rewarding, but it won’t make you a gold medallist or a world-famous musician.

The Perfectionism Trap

Perfectionism is described as a strong desire for perfection without a mature or sufficient grasp of what it takes to achieve it.

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Written by hamza