Duality of Perfectionism
The title “perfectionist” carries with it many different attributes and can be applied to a wide range of people. In its most basic sense, it refers to those who refuse to accept any standard short of perfection in their life pursuits. It is not inherently irrational, as its definition suggests, nor should it be regarded as so. In healthy applications, this notion inspires attentiveness to detail and promotes excellent quality of work. However, in over-conforming to this standard of flawlessness, a destructive mindset can begin to manifest.
Let’s look at how a perfectionist mindset can be a good thing when healthily applied. It is this pattern of thought that causes mediocrity to vanish and superior performance to flourish. By refusing to accept anything short of flawlessness, perfectionists integrate a wide range of details into their efforts in order to come as close to perfection as possible. Notice that all champions and high achievers have mastered the art of applying healthy perfectionism, because they are the ones who pay attention to the small details. They are skilled enough to take what’s already good and make it better. This is what healthy perfectionism looks like in action: being dissatisfied with “good” and desiring “great”. This sense of determination doesn’t have to just belong to the ones who want to be the best. It belongs to any average person who wants to be exceptional. Notice how I said that healthy perfectionists aspire to come “as close to” perfection as possible. What separates the healthy mindsets from the unhealthy is the realization that perfection is never fully attained. Healthy perfectionists regard perfection as a pursuit while unhealthy perfectionists view it as an attainable result..
Now we’ll look closer at what can cause that unhealthy sense of perfectionism. As mentioned, unhealthy perfectionists view perfection as something that is readily available and all they must do is tap into it if they try hard enough. However, by trying to tap into this high potential too early, you miss out on the foundational lessons that are manifested in mastery of basics In other words, the predominant goal of your efforts now orients success around results instead of the process of theoretically attaining perfection. The person who sees the value in the process of attaining perfection will construct their training by progressively increasing their workload in order to grab the low hanging fruit, namely injury prevention, good technique and mental fortitude. However, consider the person who sees the most value in the results. They are more prone to beginning training at higher intensity and expecting more of themselves, subconsciously neglecting foundational steps of preparation. Unfortunately, they want to see an unreasonable amount of success within a short time. This not only puts undue physical stress on the athlete, it can develop feelings of discourage when they aren’t seeing results in the forms they want. Whether they measure success by the numbers lifted at the gym, the constancy of flawless execution or the absence of struggle, their thinking is inconsistent with the nature of progress. Progress fundamentally involves the presence of trials that must be conquered and the continual molding of character as a result. Therefore, it is virtually impossible to always perform perfectly. Nature insists that we can only pursue perfection and not possess it. Progress is not measured by how often you give perfect performance, but by how you get closer and closer to it.
The line between an unhealthy and healthy mindset of perfectionism is very fine, But it ultimately comes down to whether perfection is viewed as a pursuit or a supply. It’s all about whether you see perfection as something that will always be one step ahead no matter what or something that you must just try harder to obtain. To combat unhealthy perfectionism in my own life, I try not to let the fear of doing something imperfectly keep me from doing it at all. That doesn’t mean do it badly—just humanly. I figured since perfection will never be fully reached, why waste time waiting for the perfect moment that won’t really come? I can pursue it and see fruition, but never grasp it in its fullness. How do you view perfection? Is it healthy or unhealthy? If it’s unhealthy, all you have to do is put the humanness back in.
-Julia Hudson
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