I'm my own worst critic. This shouldn't be a surprise, since it's something that almost everyone faces at times.

This also means I'm my worst bully at times. But how is that so?

Merriam Webster defines a bully as "a blustering, browbeating person; especially: one who is habitually cruel, insulting or threatening to others who are weaker, smaller or in some way vulnerable."

I'm cruel to myself when I feel weak or vulnerable. This typically happens when I feel that I've messed up, missed the mark or wasn't "good enough."

I strive to be the best that I can be, but sometimes I take it too far.

I'm a perfectionist at times — not the person that just strives to be the best that they can be because of healthy achievement and growth, even though I can be that person too.

The perfectionist in me is the person who fixates on achieving a flawless output to the point it becomes unhealthy.

I've found myself fixated on criticism for a task that I've done. Fixated not on how to improve in the future but on how I missed the mark. Believing that the criticism was directed at me instead of the task.

Stop telling me, "Just stop being so hard on yourself." I'll end up bullying myself for that too.

I've gotten a 4.0 every semester of college, but I still look back and beat myself up over the comma that I misplaced, the question I got wrong on a test or the word I misspelled.

Sometimes, I focus more on the end product than the process of learning.

If I'm not careful, I'll spend 30 minutes writing and rewriting a three-sentence email. It's either that or I'll just click "send" once it's written, then think about the ways I could have reworded it. I know how to send emails worded so that others can understand them.

But there's always that one thing I could have done better – and I'll focus on that one thing until I find something else to focus on.

My perfectionism doesn't have set times or activities when it acts up. School, physical activities, my physical appearance, writing, speaking and relationships are some of the things that can unleash my perfectionism.

Perfectionism is viewed by many as positive, but there's also a negative side that many people don't see.

Perfectionist tendencies can be linked to psychological problems such as depression, anxiety, self-harm, obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders, chronic headaches and even early mortality. Perfectionism, according to Sarah Egan, is "something that cuts across everything, in terms of psychological problems."

Setting high standards and striving to be the best you can be is admirable until it starts destroying you.

Thankfully, there are ways to stop perfectionism from being a bully. Several articles, like this one, share tips on overcoming perfectionism. Just remember to not fixate yourself on what others suggest or instant results — it'll take time to learn what works.

I am always going to be my own worst critic, but I'm working on stopping the bully named "perfectionism."