What Type of Perfectionist Are You?

The first type is a "normal perfectionist." A normal perfectionist finds pleasure and satisfaction in providing their best possible effort on tasks.

In this sense, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a perfectionist. In fact, I have found myself to be guilty of this type for quite sometime. And in my opinion this is a good thing especially as a professional, because with it you always strive to do your best with each and every task. But don't forget the down side to this.

The second type is known as a "neurotic perfectionist." A neurotic perfectionist strives for perfection, but criticizes themselves to the point that they can never find the pleasure or satisfaction in their efforts. This type of perfectionist has a tenancy to stand in their own way. Or simply put, they enable themselves to progress.

In the business world this can have a terrible effect on your work as well as your growth as a professional. It can lead to missed deadlines, excessive stress, and overall under achievements. And you never want to allow such a thing to have that much power over your income and your well being.

So the first thing that you have to ask yourself is "am I a perfectionist" and the second is "what kind of perfectionist am I?" Because perfectionism has two sides, the good and the bad, you have to determine how it is effecting your lifestyle or business.

Like they say "the first step is acknowledging you have a problem." Once you can get to that point there are a lot of things that you can do to prevent becoming a neurotic perfectionist.

What you have to realize a person and a professional, is that no one or nothing is perfect. If you do what you need to do at the best of your ability, then the questions and second guessing should stop there.

Here are some things that you should remember when you are becoming that overbearing, neurotic perfectionist:

-Personal standards are great to have, but you don't want to set them so high that you are setting yourself up for failure.

-Everybody makes mistakes. If you make a mistake no big deal, mistakes can be fixed. No one is going to thing any less of you for your mistakes. If anything, they will applaud you for being able to find the mistake and fixing it.
Imperfections are not always a bad thing. Some of the riches people got rich off of their imperfections, or their mistakes turning into million dollar ideas.

-Learning from your imperfections allows you to grow as a persona as well as a professional, so don't stunt your growth.