5 Ways Perfectionism Can Sabotage Your Personal and Professional Relationships

Below I discuss 5 different ways perfectionism can sabotage your relationships, no matter what type of perfectionist you are.  Don't know what type of perfectionist you are? Take the Quiz here to find out! 

1. If you are single and in search of love, your perfectionism may lead you to be hyper critical of the person you are on a date with, looking for the flaws instead of seeing all their great attributes. This can lead to a never-ending search for a partner, frustration and perhaps giving up all together leaving the perfectionist to remain single.
2. Self oriented perfectionism can cause low self esteem, you may have a low or negative self image and feel unworthy of love. Feeling this way, you may remain single not actively pursing dating. Should you be on a date feeling this way, the energy you are giving off is of insecurity, shame and unworthiness.
3. If you are a mixed perfectionist or other-oriented perfectionist, your perfectionism may cause you to have unrealistically high expectations of your significant other or your children. You may constantly criticize them, or their work, which in turn doesn't foster a loving relationship. In turn this may cause your children to develop perfectionism themselves as they feel the need to be perfect to win your approval.
4. In the chase to produce perfect results, a self oriented perfectionist can tend to be a workaholic. They feel their worth is tied to their productivity. This leads leads to problems because your partner and children may feel less important than your work, or that you are never home or present when you are home to spend time with them.
5. Professional relationships can also suffer from perfectionism. Mixed perfectionists and other-oriented perfectionists have sometimes have difficulty working with others, as they feel their work is not up to their standards. For this reason, they may come off as harsh, critical or rude to the co-worker. The perfectionist may take on additional projects because they would rather do the work themselves than settle for less quality if someone else does it. Perfectionists can have difficulty with deadlines for a few reasons, either they procrastinate doing something that is uncomfortable and new or the project is in a state of perpetual revision and the deadline is not met. This leads to unhappy clients, management and team members.

Spend a few moments to see if any of these situations relate to you and your relationships.  

The good news is, by recognizing this you have taken the first step in repairing the problem.

Perfectionism is an identity we assume and a set of well worn thought patterns. If you are interested in overcoming your perfectionism to get unstuck, get out of your own way, improve your relationships and become more happy then get on the waitlist for my course The Prescription for Perfectionism.  Sign up below to be notified when it opens next.