Perfectionism can take you far professionally
But too much and too often MUST also has a crippling effect, possibly pushing you toward burnout.
- Do comments from colleagues, customers... resonate with you for a long time?
- Do you set the bar high for yourself and therefore spend a lot of private time working? And does this leave you feeling guilty toward your roommates and yourself?
- Do you usually try to immediately and completely fulfill the expectations you think your supervisor or your colleagues have? And then just put your own desires aside?
- Despite compliments from colleagues and bosses, do you often feel like the odd man out?
- Do you often hesitate to make the right choice and then just postpone your decision?
- Do you like to have control over things? And would you prefer that others follow the same processes and methods as you do?
- Do you radiate independence? But do you constantly wonder what others think of you and adjust your behavior accordingly?
- Does a compliment make you open up for a moment and give you a moment's peace of mind? But then does the fear of being rejected quickly resurface?
Where does this tiresome perfectionist behavior come from?
For a lot of people, this behavior crept in during childhood. You got comments about something you did, what you said, the way you dressed, the way you did or didn't do tasks, dealt with people and things ...
This made you feel rejected. What you did was labeled as not ok. So you adapted your behavior so that you received applause and compliments. That made you feel appreciated. And so you quickly learned to adjust your behavior every time you were in a similar situation.
You drag this learned behavior into your adult life. Meanwhile, the circumstances of your life have changed but you continue to feel that urge to always behave in such a way that you receive recognition and appreciation from those around you.
Why do you want to maintain that tiresome behavior?
By maintaining your perfectionist behavior, you hope to receive compliments and confirmation that you are ok the way you are.
You do this by working harder and harder, even though your body is giving signals that you are going too far. Migraines, upset stomachs, back pain ... It doesn't stop you.
And you do this mainly by always trying to do what you think others expect of you, colleagues, superiors, customers ... And therefore you like to be in control of everything.
Naturally you doubt and fret about whether you are doing a good job because compliments you hardly hear, and are immediately overshadowed by possible work points.
You experience an inner urge to maintain your perfectionist behavior. It is stronger than yourself. If you want to do otherwise, you immediately experience guilt, anxiety and stress.
Do you want to know if you are a perfectionist?
Not everyone is a perfectionist in every area of life. You can exhibit very perfectionist behavior at work but be a big slob at home. Or you may exhibit perfectionist behavior in sub-areas of your work e.g. towards customer satisfaction but be much more tolerant of colleagues' performance.
What is certain is that you and those around you suffer from this behavior. It causes resentment between colleagues and stress in the workplace. You don't feel ok and unappreciated.
How do you reduce the burden of that heavy backpack?
Did you know you can go to our career guidance or our workshops?