I need to be perfect

Perfectionism

Meticulousness is no sin; it is a rather coveted trait. The definition and boundaries of perfectionism however are often bleak; what appears enough to one seems way too inadequate to another. Verdicts given by the world indeed count; but what matters most is what we think of ourselves and where we place our self-regard centered on our personal appraisals of us. The ladder of individual growth typically directs upwards, life is about evolution and success concerns bettering ourselves with each passing day. Nonetheless, accepting the self with potencies and inadequacies is the selection of the wise...

Description

Perfectionism is a strive for flawlessness, setting high performance standards, coupled with overly critical self-evaluations with concerns regarding others' evaluations of oneself. There are no clear-cut  criteria for thoroughness. Perfectionism is a personal evaluation of external as well as internal constructs. It is a will to reach the peak of tenable potential by self-criticality and subsequent self-amendment for furtherance. However we sometimes let things off the handle with excessive condemnation and take wrong (rather unhealthy) steps that lead to downfall instead of improvement. 

How do you do?

Knowing why you do what you do is a good way of deciphering your own motives and drivers. Running away form failure is not a laudable sport; chasing success is. Everyone does what they do; how they do it makes all the difference to themselves as well as the world at large. Ask yourself and look for the number of positive responses below:

• I need to set the highest standards for myself in all that I do
• If not at the top I will end up as second-rated person always
• It is important that I be totally competent in everything I do
• If I fail at my work, I will be a failure as a person in general
• I should be upset if I make a mistake; I really can’t afford to
• If someone does it better than me, I just feel like a disaster
• Only outstanding performance is good enough for this world
• Even when I do it all carefully, I feel that it’s not done right
• People will probably think lesser of me if I make a mistake
• If I don’t do as well as others, I will be a mediocre person
• If I don’t succeed all the time, people will lose respect in me
• I habitually doubt a lot of the things I do on a regular basis
• The world needs winners, if I’m not one I needn’t exist at all

If you scored more than 3 positive responses, you do have trouble in rightfully and justly appraising your worth. Healthy perfectionism leads to favorable and acceptable outcomes. There ought to be no hidden motive to action. Fulfillment of action is the biggest reward. The world needn’t influence our valuation of ourselves. Improve the self for the self by the self is the only allowable exercise.  Excellence will sprout as a by-product.

Perspective

When you wear red sunglasses the whole world turns red in an instant. We color our house walls in our favorite shade because we like seeing them that way. We put before ourselves what we want to see. Some of us carry the pictures of our loved ones in our wallets (or I-pads, I-pods and I-phones today).  Appeasing our perceptions has become of utmost important. So why not learn to see differently. Once we do so, the world becomes altered (even though nothing changes). Wearing red sunglasses was not such a bad idea then was it?