But why is that? Why exactly? What are the disadvantages of being a perfectionist? Of trying to be perfect?

That’s what I want to answer in this article. (Of course, there are benefits as well but that’s just not what this article is about.)

Let’s just jump to the negative effects of perfectionism:

• Low productivity: As a perfectionists you tend to pay a lot of attention to unimportant details. So you usually need longer to write articles complete other work.
• Psychic instability: People are not perfect. And moments of failure haunt you. In times of (even little) failure, you may hate yourself for being imperfect. This can result in low self-esteem and depression.
• More stress: If you want to be perfect in every way, then you put yourself under a huge constant unhealthy pressure. This can also lead to increased nervousness and therefore increased chance of failure.
• Constant fear of failure: Fear is bad enough on its own. The problem is, that you also act less because of this constant fear. Paradoxically, this also means that you miss chances to improve yourself.
• Less enjoyment: Just letting go is quite pleasant. The problem is that perfectionists usually can’t just let go. It’s also because of the previous point. A perfectionist doesn’t want to let go because he fears the possible consequences of losing control for a moment. It seems to be a basic perfectionistic belief that you need to control everything if you want to be perfect.

All in all, extreme perfectionism can have really horrible consequences. It’s a strive for perfectionism that doesn’t end. A strive for perfectionism that can destroy you.

In most of its different forms, perfectionism seldom makes you smile. It rather takes away your smile. But in case you’ve ever tried to change such a deep-rooted attitude you should know that it’s extremely hard to get rid of it. And it takes a lot of time.