biglife at Thu, Aug 28 02:10 PM:

Perfectionism has been a real problem for me.  I have struggled with career, and suffered from so many things I heard on this podcast, anxiety, depression, lack of satisfaction.  It has been a problem in my relationships and I think is what lead to my OCD compulsion. I am going to listen to the rest of these podcasts, i did not know about them.  I look forward to hearing how to change my thinking.  Thanks Coach!!! 

zylphia27610 at Thu, Aug 28 03:40 PM:

I agree with biglife 100%  I have struggled with the same things.  I have jokingly always described myself as a unorganized compulsive perfectionist.  That in itself should describe the battles that I deal with.  These podcasts are very helpful and thank you for them.

jimmyrisley at Thu, Aug 28 04:03 PM:

It is difficult to know the difference between not succeeding because you are a perfectionist, and not succeeding because you don't try. Anyway, I think this podcast was really interesting and I can't wait to hear more! :)

tammy_s at Thu, Aug 28 04:03 PM:

Great podcast, it made me think about some things in my life from a new angle.  Good food for thought, thanks!

Gladys49 at Thu, Aug 28 04:12 PM:

Spot on, some of those examples are almost directly out of my past.  Perfectionism will only lead to disappointment in the long-term.  I used to be the self-sabature type, long ago.

heikkihamilton at Thu, Aug 28 04:38 PM:

This was a great choice to do a podcast. I am too much of a perfectionist and this has made me think if there are things that I could do to make it easier for me.

bitwckd at Thu, Aug 28 05:52 PM:

it seems like life leads us to wish for perfection. everything you see on television and in the media makes you think that it is possible. people however, are not perfect. I think that message is an important one. thanks for the podcast!

skzith at Thu, Aug 28 06:48 PM:

Good advice, here.  I agree with bitwckd on the media angle.  Seeing people with written scripts appear perfect in movies, etc, makes it seem realistic, and it really isn't.  Since actually being perfect is completely impossible, being a perfectionist is pretty much setting yourself up for failure.  Striving for perfection, while expecting that you can only do your best, is a better way to get the most out of life.  It is good to just be proud of your level of acheivement if you've worked hard and done your best. 

abduberry at Thu, Aug 28 06:54 PM:

I enjoyed this podcast. I put unreasonable demands on myself by setting the bar too high and i feel that the world is exerting pressure on me. I don't know if that makes me a perfectionist or not.

Dana978 at Thu, Aug 28 08:18 PM:

thank you for taking the time to post this podcast. it is very eye opening. Keep up the great work.

F.Garett at Thu, Aug 28 10:36 PM:

Though i certainly wouldn't call myself a functionally perfectional perfectionist. I do at some points come close to compromising important things in my life by pushing too far, extending brinkmanship to dangerous levels. I really liked this podcast, it really made me start considering this again.

compelledorphan at Fri, Aug 29 01:14 AM:

I liked this one, it has changed my view on life and things in general. Perfectionism is an interesting thing.

ay2002 at Fri, Aug 29 01:46 AM:

I myself is a bit of a perfectionist. When it comes to professional life, I sometimes struggle to draw the line between being perfectionist and caring about professional standards and quality of work. Great podcast to raise awareness of ones self about being perfectionist.

MrCommons at Fri, Aug 29 01:48 AM:

I've learned to get over my perfectionism to an extent by working with trained artists on virtual world projects.  Forcing my self to do bigger projects in phases, from the primary infrastructure first, then the functionality, then the details and aesthetic aspects last.  This has stopped me from wasting lots of time working on one little piece of a bigger project forever just to realize that it doesn't work with the rest and eventually giving up on the whole thing.  That said I don't think perfectionism is a totally bad thing, and frequently having healthy high standards gets confused with perfectionism by those who would settle for less.

Ankkit at Fri, Aug 29 03:41 AM:

Amzing podcast, after going through it i have learned few important things which i never knew, great Work

Ankkit at Fri, Aug 29 03:41 AM:

Amzing podcast, after going through it i have learned few important things which i never knew, great Work

cc1874 at Fri, Aug 29 04:35 AM:

Thanks for having this mturk job because it got me to log back in and hear your voice.  This is a really good podcast on perfectionism because of how you explain the types of perfectionism and where they lead.  I have read a lot about perfectionism and this had something new to me in it.

sonica at Fri, Aug 29 05:31 AM:

It was an interesting podcast. I am a perfectionist in certain areas and am trying to change myself. I feel perfectionists make others life miserable by keeping very high standards.

Sonicalal.

dpadin at Fri, Aug 29 09:14 PM:

Very well said.. I find myself being a perfectionist in various aspects of my life, I try to be the best and never wanting to settle for less than the perfect deal which makes me end up with nothing.. I think this has a lot to do with all the things media is bombarding us with.

gabalicious at Fri, Aug 29 10:32 PM:

very interesting podcast...perfectionism used to effect my life in a bad way.  ever since i was a child if i didnt bring home a 90 or above on my tests my parents would be disappointed.  ever since then i tried to make everything perfect probably  from a psychological stand point to please my parents.  it defeintly could lead to procrasticnation and all the stuff mentioned.  but once one realizes that its irrational and all that matters is to please yourself and to be goal orrientated and to be honest with yourself, then it kind of goes away. 

the most important consistent thought i have is life is too short to dwell on perfectionism its better to enjoy than to make sure everything is perfect.  just make it so you like it.  For me it took me to love my life with tools and organzing my room and designing my room, buying nice clothe to fit a certain image i wanted and visualizing my success. 

Karen54 at Sat, Aug 30 08:17 AM:

I have seen my own life go on pause because of the outter critics, more than the inner critic.  That is what I loved about the "forget about it" lesson in Tools.  Though I "knew" the principle, I needed it on my check list. 

 I relish the times I see life is as it should be.  A fleeting pause and that though there is great sorrow in the world, there is also a certain perfection in the moment. Like when the child from a torn family struggles to lift their eyelids and then speaks not of their own pain, but speaks gratitude for another day to look or hear something beautiful. Just a thousanth of a second, my eyes have panned the scene and seen the perfection of the moment, not the grief of the morning, yesterday, and yesteryear. 

Or when I am in the midst of great pain, and I visit a celebration of victory for the freedom Jesus brought.  And the pain is traded for joy, the tension released and there it is perfection as a community speaks love, life, healing, forgiveness, and wholeness freely.

Tanyalan at Sat, Aug 30 07:42 PM:

I've always been my worst critic and it can be pretty tough. Not only do I compare myself to others, but I compare myself to an unrealistic self-image as well. I almost have to try to not care whether what I do is perfect or not.

The types of perfectionism discussed in this podcast were interesting. None of them quite fit me, but I can certainly recognize traits from each within myself.

I think the  biggest step you can take towards minimizing the stress perfectionism can cause is just to realize how and why you think the way you do. Once you know that, you can work on "recovering."