I think there's a big flaw in this - perfectionists typically don't think they're striving for perfection. They think they're striving for "acceptable" and feel like they're just barely scraping by.
They would be like "god, excellence is a pipe dream, I just want to not be fired" - they don't realise that what they think the bare minimum is wildly high.
So while externally, yes, they should aim for good not perfect, I don't think that's a useful cue. If you've correctly assessed yourself as being a perfectionist, then you need to be okay with what, to you, looks like a mediocre job. You need to understand that your perspective is warped, and adjust for it. Like if you're clock is running 10 minutes fast, you don't say "I need to stop arriving early" because according to your clock, you're arriving on time. You'd need to say "it's okay for me to arrive 10 minutes late" (which ofc is actually on time)
I don't know, McKinley--I think (some) people do know and say about themselves that they are perfectionists. Though I'm sure there are people who are applying perfectionistic standards to their performance without realizing that those standards are unrealistic.
Excellencism sounds a lot like what Herbert Simon called saticficing. I like it.
Love this ♥️
One more day, I've loved your article Annie! Very interesting. I took the test, definitely I'm not a perfectionist and I'm very happy not to be :)
I'm glad you enjoyed this, Lady C! Glad to hear that you have avoided the perfectionism trap.
I think there's a big flaw in this - perfectionists typically don't think they're striving for perfection. They think they're striving for "acceptable" and feel like they're just barely scraping by.
They would be like "god, excellence is a pipe dream, I just want to not be fired" - they don't realise that what they think the bare minimum is wildly high.
So while externally, yes, they should aim for good not perfect, I don't think that's a useful cue. If you've correctly assessed yourself as being a perfectionist, then you need to be okay with what, to you, looks like a mediocre job. You need to understand that your perspective is warped, and adjust for it. Like if you're clock is running 10 minutes fast, you don't say "I need to stop arriving early" because according to your clock, you're arriving on time. You'd need to say "it's okay for me to arrive 10 minutes late" (which ofc is actually on time)
I don't know, McKinley--I think (some) people do know and say about themselves that they are perfectionists. Though I'm sure there are people who are applying perfectionistic standards to their performance without realizing that those standards are unrealistic.