Perfectionism is both a blessing and a curse.
On one hand, it can motivate you to strive to do your absolute best in every situation or dilemma you face. On the other hand, however, it can add unnecessary stress and anxiety to your life as you put pressure on yourself to always be better.
Perfectionism can apply to many facets of your daily life, whether it be your appearance, work ethic or even your hobbies. It can mean waking up an extra two hours before class to straighten your hair and put on makeup or revising an essay four separate times until it's worthy of publishing or taking charge of group projects because you know you'll do everything in your power to kill the assignment.
Being a perfectionist also means, however, that no matter how amazing your work or accomplishments might seem to others, they're never good enough for you. Someone could compliment what you've done hundreds of times, and you'll still sit there tearing apart any flaw you observe, flaws that aren't even noticeable to anyone but yourself.
Soon enough, you're stressing and feeling like no matter how hard you try, you'll never succeed. Perfectionism imposes so much self-doubt that, at times, it does more harm than good.
Rather than attempting to meet this unattainable level of perfection, try to see the good in what you do and realize that a few flaws aren't the end of the world. In fact, they make everything you do unique. We are all more capable of noticing our own flaws than others are, making us our own biggest critics.
We're supposed to be our own biggest fans, and yes, while striving for the ultimate standard is good because it makes us try our absolute hardest, it's also important to cut ourselves some slack from time-to-time.
The bottom line: Perfection is made up. What's perfect in the eyes of one individual could be far from perfect in someone else's perspective.
So try your best and work your hardest, but at the end of the day, realize that the amount of effort you put into your work is far more important than its outcome.
