Perfectionists are all different and can have different ways that they show being a perfectionist. One person may need everything to be perfectly organized and symmetrical or straight, while someone else may use a ruler anytime they draw a line to make sure it's perfectly straight. We all show perfectionism differently, but we also all have one thing in common: something or many things have to in some way be perfect for us to be satisfied.
If I'm taking notes and I decide that I'm going to make them look really neat, they must be perfect. There can't be any words that I crossed out or an underline that are not straight. Otherwise, I'll crumple up the paper, throw it away and start over.
This may seem like a negative trait, something that gets in the way and makes me do unnecessary things. But there are positives too. Being a perfectionist makes us happy. When I see those perfect notes all finished, I feel so happy and satisfied because they look so good, I can't help but go show someone how much time I spent on them. But aside from just feeling happy or satisfied, being a perfectionist has benefits that affect school, work and our daily lives.
The first pro is that perfectionism is also a positive thing in school or work because it makes me have the need to please everyone. This may not apply to all perfectionists, but other perfectionists like me would understand that you have to be polite to your teachers or bosses, and you must show them how good you are; you are constantly trying to show them how smart or responsible you are. Other people wouldn’t care if someone thought they were rude or annoying, but we need to please everyone. We would have to prove to that person that we are not rude or annoying. It's a feeling where you want to be perfect, you have to be perfect, so you must prove that you are by pleasing everyone and showing them that you're perfect.
Because of this need to please, I feel the need to work hard and prove that I have a good work ethic. I can't begin to understand why I am like this, but I'm happy that I am like this. It forces me (most of the time) to want to work hard and do everything the right way and to do it well. People who have this trait feel the need to go the extra mile, work extra hard. If the assignment is four to six paragraphs, you would without a doubt do six, maybe even seven. But on the other hand, most other perfectionists, and sometimes myself, wouldn't want to turn in sloppy math homework, they would want to turn in math homework that is neat and tidy; even if the answers are wrong, it's aesthetically pleasing.
Many of us are told by our peers or friends to stop being so OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) or that we have OCD, but OCD is a serious disease that goes beyond perfectionism. While other perfectionists and I may have some characteristics of being OCD, it doesn't mean that we have OCD. Even though perfectionists tend to have these characteristics of OCD, the two are completely separate and different things.
For me, having characteristics of OCD means that everything has to be even. If you scratch me on one leg, I have to scratch the other. Otherwise, I feel uneven and like it needs to be fixed. In contrast, an example of being a perfectionist is throwing away good notes because one line wasn't straight. Perfectionism makes me feel the need for everything to be perfect; OCD makes people feel that everything needs to be even, but those who actually have OCD will go beyond normal boundaries to fix whatever isn't even.
Being a perfectionist does have its pros and cons, but most other people view it as a negative, while perfectionists typically like being perfectionists. I am proud to be a perfectionist because it makes me work hard and do my best in everything, it makes me who I am.
