Perfectionism and Depression: What to Do When Being a Perfectionist Drags You Down

Detective Monk using his level-checking level to see if smaller level is accurate. From the tv series Monk.

Here is a sampling from the article “Perfectionism and Depression: What to Do When Being a Perfectionist Drags You Down,” by Sedona Training Associates staff and Hale Dwoskin:

Do you ever think the following self-limiting beliefs?

* It’s not OK to make a mistake
* People will not like me if I’m not perfect
* I’ll avoid anything I can’t do well
* I’m a failure because I didn’t achieve a goal
* I must keep everything in my life under rigid control
* I’m depressed because something didn’t come out right
* Anyone who criticizes me is stupid

If so, it’s time to let go of your need to be perfect. “This is not to say that you shouldn’t strive to do your best. It’s just that if you force yourself to be perfect all the time you’ll never feel like you are,” Dwoskin says.

“It is also extremely helpful to allow yourself to love or accept yourself as you are. The more you love and accept yourself as you are, and the more you allow yourself to accept your performance, the happier you’ll feel, and the more likely you’ll be to produce stellar results.”

For more posts on perfectionism see the High Ability site.
More articles by Hale Dwoskin.

For more information, see The Sedona Method