Signs You Are A Perfectionist

1. You feel like you fail a lot

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When you are a perfectionist your standard are sometimes impossible to meet, meaning that you rarely feel that you have completed what you wanted to. This can make you feel like a failure. You may feel as though you keep failing over and over because you can't reach perfection.

2. You have an 'all or nothing' mentality

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For you, your mindset is very much all or nothing which means that you either do something where you give it 100%, or you would rather not do it all. This can be hard because it can be an extreme way to view things rather than thinking you'll just have a go and be proud of your efforts regardless.

3. You are very critical

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You are SUPER critical...of everything. You're critical of yourself and everything you do and you're also critical of other people and their ventures too. It's not exactly that you mean to be critical in a mean way, but your perfectionism makes you view things super critically.

4. You are driven by fear

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For you, one of the main driving forces that pushes you to do things is fear. An intense fear that you will not do well or you will not live up to the standards that you have imposed on yourself. This can also be very draining, as fear is often a bigger factor than enjoyment.

5. You have unrealistic standards

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You may find that as a perfectionist your standards are completely unrealistic. They're pretty much unattainable at times. To set these standards on yourself means you are setting yourself up for failure, rather than lowering your standards to simply do the best you can.

6. You're only focused on results

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It's not about the result, it's about so much more than that and the process is the main thing. But you cannot see it like that. For you, results are all that matters as that is how you define how well you have accomplished something, whatever that thing may be.

7. If you haven't met a goal, you feel very low

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For a perfectionist who has set themself a goal, not to reach that goal is a HUGE knock. You may feel really down and low about it as it could totally knock your self esteem and your self worth. You find it hard to accept that you did not manage to accomplish what you had set for yourself.

8. You procrastinate a lot

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Now this may sound strange for a perfectionist, but often you may find that you put off tasks and do not want to start them because you do not know if you can perfect it. You know that this task will consume all of your time and your head space and if you do not think you can make it perfect, you will keep putting it off.

9. You have a deep fear of failure

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For you, failure is the greatest fear, the biggest defeat. You have an intense fear of failing. No one likes to fail of course, but for you it's more than that. A failure affects you deeply and makes you question your self esteem because not only do you love to succeed - you love perfection!

10. You do NOT like criticism

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You do not appreciate criticism of any kind. Part of this is because you are so self critical, that hearing anybody else saying it is just reiterating what you already knew. It's like another blow to your confidence. Even constructive criticism can be very difficult for you to hear.

11. You have a low self-esteem

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Perfectionists often struggle with low self esteem. This is because things rarely live up to their expectations. Whereas for people who are not perfectionist, things they achieve can boost their confidence without having to judge it against a concept of 'perfection'.

12. You fear other people's judgement

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One thing you fear above all else is the judgement of other people. Your own judgement can be very cruel at times, but you're used to taking that. Judgement from other people is a whole other thing to be able to deal with. Especially if it's in any way negative!

13. You like to be in control

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Being in control for you is a must. You like to be able to control every little thing to make sure everything is just the way you like it. It can be very hard for you to accept when things are outside of your control and it is by no means something that you like!

14. You struggle with time management

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You may be a perfectionist, but when it comes to managing your time you are definitely not! This is because you get stuck into something and you get so wrapped up in making it right and perfect, that any perception of time goes straight out the window.

15. You sometimes struggle to accept things

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As a perfectionist you've probably struggled throughout your life to accept things. When things do not go the way you planned, this can be hard to come to terms with. When things don't go our way it can be hard for anyone to accept, especially you as a perfectionist.

16. You are guilty of micro-managing

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Micromanaging is super annoying. When somebody watches over every little thing you do and tells you in minute detail how to do it, it's definitely not a good way to manage. But this is what you are like because you want to ensure that they are doing it the exact way you had envisaged.

17. You don't find it easy to relax

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How can you relax when there's so much to do? You could be getting on with that thing you've been working on. You could be changing small details of that project you want to perfect. This is a daily struggle for you. Allowing yourself some down-time is a huge challenge.

18. You dwell on mistakes

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Because you are a perfectionist, you do not deal well with mistakes. And as well as struggling with accepting them at the time, you also struggle to accept them when a lot of time has gone passed. You'll reflect on them and dwell on them, wishing you'd done it differently.

19. You scrutinise small details

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Often most people overlook the tiny, minuscule details of things. Not you. Oh, no. You completely pick apart everything head to toe, scrutinize things and find flaws in things that most people wouldn't have ever noticed. You compare it to the ideal or perfection...which doesn't even exist!

20. You are not good at delegating tasks

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'You can do this for me...actually no I should do that part myself'. 'You could...oh hang on, maybe I'd better do that myself it could go wrong'. Sound like you? You're a perfectionist who doesn't trust other people with a task that you want to ensure is done right.

21. You struggle to let things go

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You struggle to let things go and this can mean that you hold grudges against people. The problem is, when you hold people up to a standard that in your mind is perfection, nobody can do it. Humans are inherently flawed and nobody can ever live up to perfection.

22. You may put added strain and pressure on relationships

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Now, this really adds strains on your relationships because you expect a lot. No, in reality, you expect TOO much. Because your friends/ family or partner may not always be able to live up to these high standards all the time. So, to judge them against these standards sets everybody up for failure!

23. You can be very judgemental

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It's human nature to make judgments about people or things we see. It's not necessarily a bad thing, if these judgments are not negative. But as a perfectionist, you may make harsh and undeserved judgments on people because you expect them to be perfect!

24. You struggle to make decisions

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Making decisions is hard, right? It's a difficult call to make because what if you choose the wrong thing or you regret the decisions you did make? Even little decisions are hard. Should I order pizza or should I order Chinese takeout? Decisions are not your forte...not at all.

25. You spend a lot of time on small things

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Small things which might only take up a couple of minutes of other people's time, can really steal your focus for hours and hours. You completely ignore the saying 'don't sweat the small stuff' and in actual fact this is exactly what you DO do. You focus and take a lot of time over the small details.

26. You can't take compliments

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You can't take compliments because you often do not feel that you deserve them. You are your own harshest critic and so to hear compliments that you do not agree with or that you do not feel you deserve is difficult. You may just laugh or brush them off!

27. People see you as highly strung and intense

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Perfectionists can often be fairly highly strung people. If this is you, you may have an intensity that other people notice. You cannot ever be half-hearted or blasé about anything, so, to other people, they may think that you are very highly strung.

28. You find it hard to start new projects

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It's very difficult for you to start a new project because you find it very difficult to ever really declare a project 'finished'. So, how do you begin another one when you've not perfected the last one? And, you also know that this new project will take a lot of time and effort in order to make it perfect too.

29. You can't 'switch off'

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Switching off is an alien concept for you. You can't switch off, things are always going around in your brain. There are things to fix and things to do in order to make things perfect. It can be very difficult for you to actually ever properly relax and switch off.

30. You need to plan everything

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Spontaneity....what's that? That is just something you can not do. You can't have someone tell you to meet them tomorrow at 9 for an unknown adventure without knowing any plans. How could you plan everything perfectly? Perfectionists LOVE to plan things.