Study: Perfectionism Can Mean Worse Performance, Depression
Unrelenting standards schema is the feeling of pressure that comes from perfectionism, the feeling that nothing is ever good enough, with the constant demand to do more making you feel flawed. It comes from experiencing unreasonable demands in childhood.
A June 2022 study appearing in Personality and Social Psychology compared perfectionism to just working with set goals for excellence, and found surprising results: Perfectionism leads to worse outcomes, not better. In fact, other studies reveal that, not only does perfectionism bring worse results, it also can make you miserable and that your life is lacking in creativity and less fulfilling (Brown and Beck, 2002).
Surprising Results
1. There is a difference between being a perfectionist and striving for excellence.
2. Those who strive for excellence, and stop when they hit their goals, perform better than perfectionists.
· Perfectionism means being stuck with standards that are always too high, and anxiously focusing on them.
· Excellencism is about setting good but achievable goals, and being engaged but flexible with them, and then moving on to other tasks once they are achieved.
Student grade point averages were the proof that:
If you have high, but realistic standards, reach them, and move on, you have better results, feel better about yourself, and are motivated to continue. If you are a perfectionist, nothing ever feels good enough, and motivation suffers, leading to worse results.
If you can just have set standards and let go of the perfectionist idea that you can always do better, you will see better results. You have proof, which keeps you going on a positive feedback loop.
The problem is, you feel perfectionism in your body, like a restlessness and dread, and worry you aren’t good enough, and you become addicted to trying harder. So how to overcome that feeling?
4 Steps to Overcome Perfectionism
· Trust what your body tells you. Remember, the key to overcoming perfectionism is self-esteem. As long as you feel secure, that you want the best possible outcome for yourself because it will make you proud of yourself, you’re good. But if you’re feeling anxiety and dread, that’s your body telling you you’re being a perfectionist.
· Understand your perfectionism story. What childhood experience had you turning to perfectionism to overcome feeling inadequate? What did “little you” go through? Try journaling this story, and use it to remind yourself that you are entitled to more.
· Using the “excellencism” approach, try making a list of reasonable goals, with clear markers of success, and then stick to them. Once you hit the goal, remind yourself you can move on to other accomplishments, rather than getting stuck on perfect.
· It takes practice. You have to practice “exposure therapy” with the feeling of anxiety around letting things go. Know that you will feel like you have to do more, and it takes practice tolerating that feeling, not acting on it, and seeing that you can survive. Over time it gets easier.
What are your thoughts about setting realistic goals?
#Perfectionism #Depression #Goals
@calmDew1576
Hey Calm, thank you for sharing this interesting article with us here. Perfectism is something a lot of people have been dealing with the new years.
