11 Signs You’re A Perfectionist (And That’s Not Good)

There are too many people whose perfectionism gets in the way of them living a happy, fulfilled life. That’s half the problem, though. Because, other than those people, there are also way too many people whose lives are made unreasonably difficult by the perfectionists surrounding them. There are few things worse than a perfectionist boss (who doesn’t know it) or a perfectionist parent. Here are 11 signs somebody (maybe even you) might be a perfectionist.

1. You know you have high standards
Being honest with yourself is half the battle. If you know you have insanely high standards, you’re half way to understanding that you might be a perfectionist. Having trouble finding friends? Having trouble finding people to start a relationship with because there seems to be something wrong with everyone around you? Take a quick minute to check if maybe your standards are too high.

2. You had good grades in school
Perfectionists make great teacher’s pets. They know what the standards are in a class, and they have no trouble meeting (or exceeding) them. It might take them a while, but on average their work is always good enough to at least get them an A on every essay, test, or presentation.

3. You are a person of extremes
It’s all or nothing for you. You’re either extremely messy or extremely organized. The core of this comes from a lack of motivation. And what’s worse — this lack stems from your own perfectionism. After all, what’s the point of doing anything at all if the end result isn’t perfect? How many projects, ideas, blogs, YouTube video ideas have you abandoned already? If the answer is “many”, maybe your perfectionism is getting the best of you and making it difficult to start new projects because you fear the end result won’t be perfect. And you have to be perfect. Don’t you, you little perfectionist?

4. You can’t get anything done quickly
And then, during times when you do take on new projects, they take you forever to finish. You’ll do the thing, decide it’s not good enough, redo the thing, and it still won’t be as good as you want to be. And then eventually the due date is tomorrow and you have to turn your work in. Everyone might like it, but you’ll know it’s not the absolute best you could have done. (Pro Tip: it doesn’t have to be.)