Everyone would want to do the best and even perfect in completing his work. However, sometimes high expectations can become unrealistic and you may end up being a perfectionist without realizing it.
Actually being a perfectionist is not always synonymous with a bad thing. A study has revealed that people who hold to high standards are conscientious in their work and highly motivated to succeed. However, there are some signs that point to a tipping point when rigid standards of perfectionism are starting to get more dangerous and can become toxic.
Quoted from the Huff Post, a psychotherapist at States of Wellness Counseling in Illinois and Wisconsin named Shannon Garcia, states that perfectionism is a form of anxiety and has the possibility of being something that holds someone back from advancing in a career. He adds, this usually happens when someone starts avoiding a task for fear it won't be completed perfectly or because they spend a lot of time trying to make something more perfect.
Being toxic as a result of being a perfectionist at work can be seen from the signs that someone shows. Anything? Compiled from the Huff Post, check this out!
Just Contemplating What Not To Do
If you cannot reflect on what has been achieved, you will never be satisfied. According to the Huff Post, perfectionists rate their own job performance on the condition that a number from 0 to 99 is poor, and only 100 is acceptable.
Perfectionists don't take compliments, they are obsessed with mistakes. In the perfectionist mindset, when you've reached your goal, the question arises, "What's next?" says a New Jersey-based psychotherapist, named Angela Clack.
In addition, perfectionists also look at how their competitors can perform better. However, a perfectionist can never enjoy a moment of victory.
It is caused by burnout resulting from chronic stress at work that can damage long-term health, such as endless fatigue, headaches, insomnia, depressive symptoms, and other poor health outcomes.
Too Worried What Will Happen If You Don't Achieve
In the Journal of Applied Psychology, researchers from Miami University, the University of Florida and Georgia Tech analyzed 95 previous studies and found that there are two types of perfectionists. First, perfectionists who seek excellence and demand unreasonably high standards for themselves. Second, failure-averse perfectionists are characterized by obsessive attention, and are reluctant to feel like a failure to achieve very high standards of performance.
Not only that, fatigue, stress, and anxiety lead to perfectionism that avoids failure. Meanwhile, excellence seeking excellence has benefits such as motivation and engagement.
When working in a team, a perfectionist will set very high standards for his co-workers. Without realizing it, you will be stuck with constant worry because you demand perfect results from teamwork. You start to comment on a lot of things, get irritated easily and even have difficulty interacting with coworkers and discomfort is created.
Always Missing Deadlines Because You Feel Not Good Enough
A perfectionist attitude will become a problem when you perfect work tasks repeatedly until you miss deadlines. This is because you feel that what you do is never good enough.
If you're always known as someone who misses deadlines, you're more likely to get a bad reputation for being unreliable. When that perception sticks, you will find it difficult to advance in your career. What's more, perfectionism can not only lead to burnout but also frustration from superiors and coworkers as well as ongoing stress that carries over to personal life.
Well, that's why it's so important to calm down and take the time to feel good about what you're doing after you finish your job at work. This self-awareness not only helps you contemplate your career, it can also help prevent unhealthy perfectionist tendencies.