Are you a perfectionist? A perfectionist is interpreted as a person who refuses to accept any standard short of perfection. Perfectionism is a personality trait distinguished by the person striving for flawlessness and setting extremely high performance standards, paired with a side of overly critical self-evaluations and topped off with concerns regarding others' evaluations. You could say these people (including myself) are quite delusional and stress everyone else out around them. I'm not as bad as some people, though. There are many positives to being a perfectionist, but there are, of course, negatives.

I know at some point in my life I was never like this. Once I started to take golf and school more seriously is when my perfectionism kicked in full-force. Anyone that has known me for a long time would more then likely describe me to be a perfectionist and OCD-like. As bad as perfectionism seems or sounds, it really has many positives to it. Yes, it has driven me crazy countless times in my life, but it really has made me work harder then anyone I know, whether it's been with golf, school or my relationships. In school, it really has made me do exceedingly well on assignments, papers, tests, quizzes, etc. Being a perfectionist won't let me settle for anything short of my very best. You go the extra mile to make sure that you get the grade you feel you deserve, even if the assignment means little to nothing. However, you will NOT settle for any grade less then an A. Even an A- gets you flustered because it means you messed up. Messing up is not an option in the life of a perfectionist.

Golf has really brought out the perfectionist in me as well. Being the perfectionist I am (because everyone is a different type of perfectionist) has really made me grind and grind and work my butt off since deciding golf was what I wanted to do. I won't ever finish a practice sessions on a bad swing or shot. I must hit a good one before I can leave the course, even if I have been there for five or more hours. Golf is not a game of perfection, though, which is where this becomes an issue. In a round of golf you are only going to hit about 10-12 really good, almost perfect shots. So, what are the other 50-60 shots then? In golf, you have to accept that you are not going to hit every shot well. You will hit some fat, thin, left or right, long or short and you have to improvise and react to each shot differently. I can play a great round of golf and I will more then likely pick out the negatives to my round before I talk about the positives. I strive to make the best swing and shot I can possibly make, but settling for less is difficult for me. Getting away from this mentality will really bring out a different golfer in me and will make me a better player.

It is great to want to do everything the best you possibly can and strive to be to most successful you can dream to be, but you also need to allow some leeway for mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone has those days (anyone get my "Hannah Montana" reference?) As a perfectionist, you never allow yourself to accept failure, which is good because it makes you work harder, but doing this also stresses you out to a point where you believe you are a failure. Always trying your best is the way to live life, but you must allow yourself to mess up every so often.