By Mia Koshefsky
Perfectionism is paralyzing. Being a perfectionist is often seen as an overall positive trait that can be a powerful tool for work ethic, but in reality, it is debilitating and can infiltrate its way into schooling, careers, and daily life. Perfectionist traits apply to any aspect of life, take homework, for example. If a perfectionistic student is given an assignment to write an essay, create a slideshow presentation, or simply complete a short math worksheet, their brain can unconsciously, or consciously, become paralyzed. There is a desire to complete every facet of the assignment perfectly without making any mistakes but because that is such a daunting and difficult task, the mind sees becoming paralyzed and doing nothing as the safest option; one cannot make a mistake if they do nothing at all. Maybe a student pushes past this frozen state and enters a planning phase. Multiple plans are drawn up on how to do the given task absolutely perfectly, but each plan also has to be created and executed perfectly, so yet again, doing nothing at all is seen as the safest option.
Many things in life will not go according to plan or be executed “just right”, and it is often the cycle of attempts, mistakes, failures, and then redirection that yield the best results. As cliche and overused the saying is, mistakes truly are how one learns. But perfectionists see even the smallest of mistakes as a sign of complete failure, and to them, they would rather do everything correct the first time over because then there is no need to improve things, thus no need to make mistakes. In a perfectionist mind, whether they realize it or not, there will never be enough planning, thinking, or preparation. The “perfect” execution does not exist. Even if the mind could land upon a perceived “perfect” action or plan, the brain would then propose caveat after caveat that calls for more rumination. The only way to overcome this is to act, just act, even if the brain perceives it as dangerous or incorrect, but this of course is much easier said than done for perfectionists.
Perfectionism and
Fear of Failure