Pefectionism

According to wikipedia perfectionism is defined as the following:
Perfectionism, in psychology, is a belief that perfection can and should be attained. In its pathological form, perfectionism is a belief that work or output that is anything less than perfect is unacceptable. At such levels, this is considered an unhealthy belief, and psychologists typically refer to such individuals as maladaptive perfectionists.


Hamachek describes two types of perfectionism. Normal perfectionists "derive a very real sense of pleasure from the labours of a painstaking effort" while neurotic perfectionists are "unable to feel satisfaction because in their own eyes they never seem to do things [well] enough to warrant that feeling of satisfaction". Burns defines perfectionists as "people who strain compulsively and unremittingly toward impossible goals and who measure their own worth entirely in terms of productivity and accomplishment".

After watching the movie Black Swan this weekend, it has inspired me to write about perfectionism. The Queen Swan played by Natalie Portman (who was brillant in this film), demonstrates characteristics of perfectionism throughout the film. Natalie Portman plays the neurotic perfectionist who never feels like she is good enough when training for the role of the Queen Swan.

My husband Mike who takes Improv courses wanted me to be mindful of the characters in the movie. He is reading a book called the Eight Characters of Comedy. One of the characters is THE NEUROTIC. According to this book the NEUROTIC get frustrated when nobody understands them, they tell you what they're thinking as they're thinking it. They always expect things to turn out a certain way and they get upset when they don't. They have a "rule book" that they just assume everyone will follow, a set of rules that helps them make sense of things. they talk and talk and talk some more.

Questions to think about:

What is arising in your mind when you read this?

What expectations do you set for yourself?

What does being perfect mean to you?

What does letting go look like to you?

Exercise

Start to observe how you feel when you are achieving certain goals, or perfecting tasks in your life. Does pain arise in your body? Are you breathing more heavily?

Keep of a journal of these and start to observe the way you feel when performing these tasks.