Are you a perfectionist?
Being a perfectionist has its own perks and downfalls. Just keep in mind that it’s your attitude that makes a difference.
As far as I can remember, I was the perfect child of my family. I was exceptional at studies, good at sports, sort of okay at music and dancing. In short, I was an all-rounder child. I participated in almost every competition in my school and always gave my best. I also did well in my 12th Grade final examinations, and I was the school topper with 11th state rank.
I was doing fairly good. Aren’t I? But then some changes in my behaviour, made me question my own habits that served me really well for a long period of time.
When I came to university and started with my coursework and lectures, I started noticing the differences in my behaviour. I was the student who used to ask questions confidently, but now, it was my biggest fear to stand up and ask a question or give an answer that I knew was correct. I was feeling the fear of being wrong or getting insulted in front of my whole class. I was being unable to take part in competitions, let alone give my best. Whenever someone praised me, I started crying to myself at night because I thought, that I’m not worthy of the praise.
What went wrong? Where did that confident, all-rounder child go?
The only thing that backfired me was my very own perfectionist nature.
I had a reputation in my school, and everyone knew me as the perfect student. But when I came to university, I had to start all over again. I needed to try different and new things, but I couldn’t bring myself to do that, I was afraid of making mistakes and not being able to perform as a perfect university student. I started procrastinating because I wanted to do my assignments and presentations in the perfect way possible, but eventually, I never completed them. This continued for a year until I finally became aware of the impact these changes in my behaviour were making, then I started trying different ways to get myself out of this situation.
The best way to bring yourself to do new things, make the best out of your perfectionist behaviour and live your life the way you want is by chanting in your head: “ Let’s get it done!”
Whenever you start negotiating with yourself in your mind about deciding on when to do a particular task, keep chanting in your mind that you have to get it done; it’s now or never.
