We all set standards for ourselves in work, hobbies, and our personal lives. Setting standards and goals are the most effective way to constantly work towards what we want in life. And being serious about achievement and personal success is important. But there is a need for balance and grace, giving yourself room to make mistakes and possibly fail while trying to be your best. Being too much of a perfectionist leaves no room for error, and can be unhealthy for you and difficult for those closest to you. If you feel like you may be a little too harsh on yourself or others, check out these 11 signs that you’re too much of a perfectionist.
You can’t handle making mistakes.
If you leave yourself no room to ever make mistakes, then you likely have an issue with perfectionism. You likely cannot leave errors for long, feeling an immediate need to correct them.
You deal in absolutes.
You may feel like everything has to be all or nothing, in that either you have done well or poorly, with no room for gray area. Things are either totally right or wrong, good or bad.
You have unrealistic expectations of yourself and others.
Not only is it hard on yourself to maintain unrealistic standards, but it is extremely taxing on your loved ones if you constantly force them to attempt to meet them as well.
You have low self-esteem.
Constantly holding yourself to unrealistic expectations will leave you in a place of consistent failure. Failing repeatedly can lead you to think poorly of yourself, when really you never stood a chance at success with impossibly high standards.
You are never satisfied.
Even when once he or she has achieved wildly difficult goals, a perfectionist will still feel like it’s not enough. Perfectionists are never satisfied and always mentally downplay their own accomplishments.
You only care about results.
Perfectionists will find a way to achieve their desired results, by any means necessary. Regardless of their own personal happiness or safety, or that of others, they will do anything for results.
You feel extremely emotional when you don’t get what you envisioned.
Even if your intended outcome is skewed by the slightest change in detail, you may feel emotionally volatile. This could include feeling angry, depressed, disappointed, or frustrated.
You get lost in the details.
Having a case of extreme perfectionism can cause you to spend an insane amount of time on minuscule details of a project or assignment. Many perfectionists find themselves barely meeting or even missing deadlines because they are too wrapped up in perfection.
You are overly critical and judgmental of others.
If you are constantly pointing out the errors in others’ work, performance, or even behavior—no matter how great their work is or accommodating their personality is—you are likely a perfectionist.
You can’t take constructive criticism.
Failure is the end-all for perfectionists. So even the tiniest suggestion, piece of advice of constructive criticism can send them into full-on defense mode.
You can never admit when you’re wrong.
No matter how perfect you try to be, everyone is wrong at some point. If you find yourself never able to admit or even realize that you are wrong, you are likely a perfectionist.