I’ve always known I’m a perfectionist and I think it might be one of my greatest flaws. Ironic.
My perfectionism causes me great pressure when doing any work which sparks in me the pangs of failure.
That fear of failure leads me to procrastinate and the “perfect” side of me becomes hyper-critical of that failure.
This leads to me being very angry at myself and very anxious about almost everything I do in my businesses.
The further I get from doing that work (thank you, procrastination!), the more I lose confidence in being able to do great work–remember, everything must be perfect.
As I lose confidence, my fear of failure grows greater and that leads me to procrastinate more!
It’s a vicious cycle and the more I watch myself, the more I have come to see that procrastination is not the cause, but the effect. The cause is my overwhelming demands and expectations that cause me to self-abort any good thing I try to do for fear that it’s not going to be perfect.
Just like that, trying to be perfect at all costs leads me to great imperfection. Not good.