The War on Imperfections Must End

Constantly trying to be perfect is too exhausting

Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

I’m out. There is no other way to see it. I will never meet the level of perfection I feel like I should attain. And admitting this is not exactly easy, especially considering that we live in a society that strives for perfectionism.

But why?

Let’s face it: Perfectionism makes people sick. Many studies support this. The latest studies even show that today more people than ever are suffering from perfectionist tendencies. In their survey that compared perfectionism patterns in people across generations, Thomas Curran and Andrew Hill’s latest meta-analysis of perfectionism patterns from 1989 to 2016 discovered substantial changes in more recent undergraduates in the US, UK, and Canada. In other words, last year’s average college student was much more likely to be a perfectionist than a student in the 1990s or early 2000s.

This is very alarming. Perfectionism is preventing people from being their most competitive and creative selves. Furthermore, perfectionistic tendencies have been linked to an extensive list of clinical issues, from depression and anxiety to eating disorders. Why does the pursuit of perfectionism make us sick?

Leading to failure