Is perfectionism ruining your career?

Do you wonder if your desire for excellence crosses the line into perfectionism? Perfectionism can lead to workaholic tendencies and burn out. It can make you "opt out" due to fear of failure, and can rob you of your state of mind, enjoyment of life and self esteem.

Perfectionists set very high and sometimes unrealistic standards for themselves and perhaps for others around them. Perfectionists self flagellate over minor mistakes. This all leads to higher levels of stress, increased workload through not delegating (usually due to fear that others may not maintain the high standards you expect), and not saying 'no' when asked to take on more.

Perfectionists may think negatively and decry their own achievements. They may be reluctant to appear weak and to ask for help when required.If you are a perfectionist, you no doubt need to lighten up, have more fun, laugh, recognise you are going too far and understand excellence is more about being realistic than perfect.

Here are some important steps you can take to maintain a healthier attitude:

• Make a Cost-Benefit Analysis - Take a closer look at your perfectionist traits. You may think you're more effective because of them (although according to research, this probably isn't true). But at what cost? Perfectionism has many negative consequences, and you may be experiencing several of them right now. Make a list of all the ways perfectionism is hurting you (and those around you), and you'll be more motivated to shed these tendencies.

• Become Aware of Your Tendencies - You may not realise how self sabotaging perfectionism can be. By becoming more aware of your patterns, you're in a better position to alter them. If you're able, it's a great idea to record your perfectionist thoughts as they pop into your head. If it's impractical for you to jot thoughts down as they come, it's a great idea to go over your day each night and remember the times when you felt you'd failed, or hadn't done well enough, and write down what you thought at the time. This will help you become more aware of perfectionist thoughts as they come to you in the future.

• Focus on the Positive - If you're struggling with perfectionism, you probably have honed the skill of spotting mistakes in even the best works of others and of yourself. You may just naturally look for it, and notice it above all other things. While this habit may be difficult to just stop, you can soften your tendency to notice the bad by making a conscious effort to notice all that is good with your work and the achievements of others. If you notice something you don't like about yourself or your work, for example, look for five other qualities that you do like. This will balance out your critical focus and become a positive new habit.

• Alter Your Self-Talk - Those who wrestle with perfectionism tend to have a critical voice in their head telling them their work isn't good enough, they're not trying hard enough, and they're not good enough. If you're going to overcome perfectionism, you need to work on changing this little voice!

• Enjoy the Process - You may be used to focusing on results, and beating yourself up if your results are less than perfect. One important way to recover from perfectionism is to begin focusing on a step-by-step process of reaching towards a goal, rather than just focusing on the goal itself. If you find you don't achieve perfection, you can then reflect back and see all that you've gained in just working toward a worthy goal, assessing and appreciating the gains you did make in the process.

Final Thought: Learn to Handle Criticism:

If you tend to look at criticism as an attack, reacting defensively, an attitude change can help. Constructive criticism can give you important clues on how to improve your performance, making your less-than-perfect performances into useful stepping stones that lead to excellence. If the criticism you're receiving is pointed or harsh, it's okay to remind others (and yourself) that mistakes are a great way to learn.