Bismillah ir Rahman ir Raheem
Lately I’ve had occasion to observe a perfectionist quite closely. I say observe because I’d like to be this person’s friend, but their perfectionism is so scathing I don’t want to get that close.
I notice this quality in myself too.
It has some common traits.
- It’s too painful to admit a mistake, so never take responsibility. If possible, deflect blame. See next point.
- If anything is less than ideal, someone has to burn and it better not be you. Find someone lower than you on the totem pole.
- Never really love anyone unconditionally. Perfection is too important. Hold them to an impossible standard and in so doing, be continuously unhappy with them.
- If you don’t have a perfect day, you have no right to be happy.
- Shame the people you love. How else will they attain perfection? And if they are frightened to speak to you because of that, well…they’re going to die miserable and imperfect. Unless of course, they make some changes to protect themselves from you. They can stop being perfect when they leave your sight.
- Sweat the small stuff. The roses can smell themselves.
I’ve worked for a company with these ideals. A miserable time was had by all. And unsurprisingly, the company couldn’t move quickly enough to avoid the recession. So for all of its high standards, it still went belly up.
Love is the only thing that will move us forward, folks.