Can You Be Too Perfect? (Understanding Perfectionism)
A successful entrepreneur once told me the key to his business was not letting the perfect be the enemy of the ” good enough”. Read this article to find out more about perfectionism!
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Synopsis (Via Scientific American)
Striving to be faultless can foster failure—or drive success—depending on the type of perfectionist you are.
Introduction (Via SA)
Perfectionists, research shows, can become easily discouraged by failing to meet impossibly high standards, making them reluctant to take on new challenges or even complete agreed-upon tasks. The insistence on dotting all the i’s can also breed inefficiency, causing delays, work overload and even poor results. Perfectionism can hurt health and relationships, too. It is associated with anorexia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social anxiety, writer’s block, alcoholism and depression. Such problems may be prevalent: a 2007 study that evaluated more than 1,500 college students revealed that nearly one quarter of them suffered from an unhealthy form of perfectionism.
Key Concepts (Via SA)
1. Perfectionists can become discouraged by failing to meet impossibly high standards, making them reluctant to take on new challenges or even complete agreed-upon tasks. The insistence on dotting all the i’s can also breed inefficiency, causing delays, work overload and even poor results.
2. Perfectionism can encompass some positive qualities, including a drive to succeed, an inclination to plan and organize, and a focus on excellence. So-called healthy perfectionists embrace the trait’s sunnier side while minimizing its darker features.
3. In recent years researchers have developed tools to parse and measure the beneficial, along with the detrimental, aspects of perfectionism. In addition, they are developing treatment programs that push perfectionistic tendencies in a more positive direction.
Click Here To Read About Perfectionism: A Success Driver Or Failure Machine
July 8th, 2009 at 1:02 am
I wonder if the key to success is “post-perfectionism.” Perfectionists who loosen up still have some good habits.