10 realest thoughts only a perfectionist can feel and relate to: Are you one?


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Last Updated on 2016-05-19 , 1:53 pm

Whether you’re sure you’re a perfectionist, or just wondering if you’re one, read on to find out how many of these you find relatable.

Being average is a horrible thought.
As a perfectionist, being ‘average’ is bad. It feels worse than failing. You’d want to be more than just average, otherwise all the hard work is worthless, and things don’t count.

You find group work a hassle.
You’d rather have more to do alone in a group work, than share the workload with the rest – because at least you know that things will be done right. Even if the workload was to be divided, you’d still go through everything at the end of the day just to make sure things are flawless.

You spend A LOT of time doing something.
You’d go through every corner of the house, or at least your room, a couple of times before you leave the house – just in case you forget something. And when you realise you forgot something, it pisses you off like crazy.

You’d read that e-mail at least ten times before you send it out. You’d erase and rewrite your notes till you get your handwriting right. You’d spend a good fifteen minutes picking out those last bits of ginger (which I really can’t stand) in your food.

Failing is something difficult to accept.
So you went through the whole house, yet you still forgot to bring your earpiece out? Now you’re already on the bus, and you’re just mad AF: “damn it!”

You take comments very seriously.
Whether it is a criticism or a compliment, you’d take it very seriously. If it’s a criticism, you’d make sure things get done better so there’s nothing for them to pinpoint the next time. If it’s a compliment, well, there’s always room for improvement right?

Disappointing others is a big no-no.
You’d rather make your own life difficult, than disappoint someone who believed in you. Especially when you receive a compliment, it’s like they’ve just invested all of their faith in you to be perfect – and you’d rather die than fail to meet that ‘expectation’ you have come up with for yourself.

You stay away from a schedule.
Other people who just don’t understand might think that you plan a lot ahead of time. The truth is, you don’t keep yourself to a schedule, or at least not very often, because you’re afraid of being unable to keep up with it – and that inability is a form of failure you’ll then have to face. You don’t want that kind of burden in your life, so you try not to routinise your life.

A minor mistake is a serious flaw.
No mistake is too small. If you spent a long time typing and proofreading an e-mail, and only realise that extra spacing after you’d sent it, you’d have a hard time sleeping that night. And because of that, it’s really hard to bounce back from failure. It can take days, years, and sometimes, forever.

You’re a sucker for details.
When you’re trying to sound polished, you’d go through the list of synonyms in Thesaurus.com for that perfect word to describe how you’re feeling in an e-mail, or a script to be used in a presentation, or even in a conversation. You’d plan them in your head just to look prepared.

You’d also secretly cringe at the mistakes people make in their work. Those speelling errrors, those InAPproPriate CaSeS Of AlPhaBets, that ‘extra  spacing’, that missing comma etc. – but hey, you just can’t seem to help it as a perfectionist, can you?

You procrastinate a lot more than others think you would.
Procrastination is your thing, and that’s probably ironic. You don’t want to get started because you know you’re in for a shit load of work to do. And once you get started, you don’t know when things will end – that’s if there’s even an ending in the first place.

To my fellow perfectionists (or those wondering if you’re one), even if you can relate to all of the above, don’t ever feel down about yourself. Instead, be proud of who you are. Personally, I’m guilty of all of these, and I’m okay with it because I know this is how I am.

Although we might be labelled as ‘extreme’ or even ‘desperate’, just remember: you are who you are, and it’s okay no matter what others may think of you. Be a sucker for details, be a procrastinator if you wish to but know that at least you get things done by the end of the day.


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Just don’t give yourself too much pressure, and when it’s time to relax, give yourself that space to find some peace before you get back to work. As long as you’ve given your best, who are they to tell you how to live your life?

Cheers!

Top Image: AVAVA / Shutterstock.com