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Are You a Perfectionist?

ByDr. John Ingram Walker

Perfectionism robs us of contentment and steals our happiness. This tormenting trait increases stress, causes anxiety, and may lead to chronic depression. “Good enough” never satisfies the perfectionist because they want everything to be…perfect.

Perfection Grading Scale: Grade yourself on each of the questions below thusly:

  • If you answer never to a question, give yourself a grade of O
  • If you answer some of the time to a question, give yourself a grade of 1
  • If you answer most of the time to a question, give yourself a grade of 2
  • If you answer all the time to a question, give yourself a grade of 3

Questions:

  1. You’ve done a decent job on a project, but with an imminent deadline, do you keep working to meet your standards, putting the project behind schedule?
  2. Do you procrastinate because you are afraid you will fail?
  3. If you have worked on a project and no one comments on your contributions, do you feel like a failure?
  4. When you look at your work do you tend to notice mistakes and little imperfections more than enjoying what you have accomplished?
  5. Do you tend to notice imperfections in others more than their good aspects?
  6. Do you believe good enough is not good enough?
  7. Do people tell you that you’re difficult to please?
  8. Do you beat yourself up when you fail to meet your expectations?
  9. Do you tend to focus on the bad outcomes rather than on the good outcomes?
  10. Does criticism feel like a personal attack on you?

Scoring:

A score of 25-30 indicates a serious problem with perfectionism that causes you and others around you to be miserable and may lead to clinical depression.

  • If you score 20-24, you will have difficulty enjoying yourself.
  • A score of 11-19 indicates you act instead of overanalyzing.
  • If you score 0-10, you will never voluntarily take this test.

Be encouraged: This test is imperfect. It has not been analyzed with a t-test or any of those other statistical tests that show validity–but it got you thinking. And please remember that perfectionists can change. Stay tuned.

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