Are you a perfectionist?

[Daniel]

I'm a 100 percent one.If my drawing is 0.001 mm not accurate I'll redraw it a million times.

[thegnat]

you should see me measuring things out on an analytical balance that goes out to 4 decimal places. yeah. I like to be exact.

[Paul V]

Yes. Definetely. Up to the point of making people angry at me.

I usually retype some part of my post at least once...

It's odd how I'm mostly a perfectionist when it comes to words and linguistics, and less with Math. Could the intelligences have something to do with it?

[Firelie]

No, not really. As long as it's close, I'm okay with it.

[Zeinland]

Yea... If my defence is wrong, I'l just waste my economy on it... When I do something exactly as I predict I think " Exactly like I thought". Nothing "close"to it will satisfy me, Only something exact.

[TruorTupnm]

I am mayhaps a bit of one. I am not superly anal about much. I will go back to perfect things based on how important it is to be perfect or how much time I have to fix it up. I used to be all about measuring everything and straightening pictures and staring at pieces of paper until I obtained the exact wording and stuff like that. Well, I still do, but only measured against the already mentioned criteria (criterion? I forget! Ack! ::) ). I muchly enjoy things to be perfect. I have called myself a perfectionist. Just not a superly anal about it one.

[logan235711]

it's not perfect to be a perfectionist, so I won't do it :p

[Bossy Mom]

It depends. I'm not a perfect housekeeper, but I want all the quilts I make to be perfect. I also keep a perfectly balanced checkbook. I have to finish every book I start, no matter how much I hate it (I even finished The Historian and that was one of the worst books I have ever read). I even draw my words, rather than write them, because I want to have perfect penmanship (a lost art). I take minutes with shorthand and practice it a lot so that I will have perfect notes and minutes for others to read. I am also a proofreader of our marketing materials and I don't allow any mistakes to go to our printer!

[More Tea]

With language and research, yes. It's one reason I would submit papers for law school a week before the due date: I can *not* do anything complex at the last minute, as I have to check and recheck my work.

With cleaning and mundane chores, no, not at all.

[Wolfie]

Not exactly. Only when I'm doing something that needs perfection. Yard work, for example, is something that I do with perfection. When I rake leaves I rake them into straight lines, then I put them into piles, combine the piles, and put them all into one bag. Afterwards, I comb back over the yard for any leaves I might have missed. Also if I start something, almost anything, I MUST finish it.
Only for things that requires perfection.

[hopscotch]

In reference to myself, yes, but I cut lesser beings a bit of slack and allow for outputs that are merely 99 per cent accurate. *I've somewhat mellowed with age, permitting something to be 'good enough' simply so I'll have work to hand in on time, but if I have the time and resources, my project will be painstakingly precise.

[Danellian]

Yes, I am so thorough that sometimes it takes me a long time to get something done, which can lead to inefficiency. However, the result is sure to be precise and free of careless errors. Also, I feel the perpetual need to improve myself. So, I am always striving to advance according to the measuring stick of my own psychological and spiritual, and even physical, standards. When I say psychological standards, I'm talking about becoming more emotionally healthy, more liberated from me ego. By spiritual standards, I am always striving to attain more spiritual truth and to live according to that truth. By physical standards, I mean exercizing to advance in my level of physical shape. The problem is, I tend to be disatisfied with the current results, envisioning and comparing my current self to distant and lofty goals. Therefore, I envision being a self-actualized person, a spiritual guru, and bench pressing large amounts of weight, all of which simply cannot happen immediately. It all takes time, and even with time, I'm only human. It's great to strive for improvement, but not when it leads to lack of acceptance of yourself. The motive has to be in the right place.

[OneBadMother]

I am somewhat of a perfectionist, but a lazy one. If I'm focused enough on something and have enough time, though, I will make constant tweaks and revisions.

[American Quest 1983]

I was a perfectionist as far as I can remember. Even when I was growing up as a child, my loved ones would comment on my need for perfection. Sometimes being a perfectionist leads to chronic health problems and anxiety.

[rwyatt365]

...nope, not at all. I guess that makes me "the outlaw" round these here parts. [smiley=cowboy.gif]

The closest I come to perfectionism is when I have to analyze some data at work. I'm always looking for relationships and doing "what-if's" (I can spend hours playing with numbers in Excel). But I'm not trying to perfect anythin, I'm just looking for hidden interactions between different variables.

[Nomad]

...nope, not at all. I guess that makes me "the outlaw" round these here parts. [smiley=cowboy.gif]

The closest I come to perfectionism is when I have to analyze some data at work. I'm always looking for relationships and doing "what-if's" (I can spend hours playing with numbers in Excel). But I'm not trying to perfect anything, I'm just looking for hidden interactions between different variables.
Nope, not alone. I'm not really a perfectionist either. I've found it to be largely a waste of time in most things. In some things, it's essential, but I don't do that sort of work. I've found it far more efficient to simply go one step further than everyone else, and your work is then judged outstanding. Beyond that, most people neither notice, nor care.

-Nomad

Edited for grammar. So maybe a little. :P

[Max T]

I've found it far more efficient to simply go one step further than everyone else, and your work is then judged outstanding. Beyond that, most people neither notice, nor care.

... or notice and get annoyed which is very counterproductive.

My business work abhors perfectionism- "perfection = paralysis". *
By the time you have it perfect, the market has changed, so it's no longer perfect.
E.g. investing- by the time you have "perfect knowledge" of a business, you're left behind.
Can be dull working with a perfectionist- agile thinking is far better in some circumstances.

[Danellian]

I'm curious if you guys feel a need to constantly improve yourselves. If so or not, how does this relate to your perfectionism?

[rwyatt365]

I'm curious if you guys feel a need to constantly improve yourselves. *If so or not, how does this relate to your perfectionism?
No, because I think I'm pretty damned good just as I am! My wife calls me an "arrogant ass" for saying that! *:P

[Paul V]

I'm curious if you guys feel a need to constantly improve yourselves. If so or not, how does this relate to your perfectionism?

Yes. In order to be the best, you must be constantly improving yourself. I believe this explains my perfectionism and my sudden change from P to J, as well as several other aspects of my personality.

[Max T]

I'm curious if you guys feel a need to constantly improve yourselves. *If so or not, how does this relate to your perfectionism?
Interesting question.
I have the need to 'improve ourselves' (I started a post titled such):
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... and yet reject perfectionism in a post above.
So how do you improve and yet reject perfectionism?

To reconcile these apparent conflicting views, personal perfectionism clearly cannot be achieved- the faults are too numerous which gives plenty of room for improvement.
Task-oriented perfectionsim in a time-sensitive situation (aren't all tasks time-sensitive?) is often futile- a diminishing rate of return is soon reached.

So I always need to improve and it doesn't relate to perfectionism at all.
My self-improvement isn't driven by the desire for perfection, but driven by the faults and room for improvement.

[Danellian]

I'm curious if you guys feel a need to constantly improve yourselves. *If so or not, how does this relate to your perfectionism?
No, because I think I'm pretty damned good just as I am! My wife calls me an "arrogant ass" for saying that! *:P

I can be arrogant too, at times, when I have met one of my standards or goals, beaten someone at something, etc. But I can also humble, that is, due to the pervasive sense that I am not measuring up to my standards my general. Overall. when I am arrogant, it is based on the rush I feel what I actually do meet one of my standards, since they are so lofty in the first place.

[Danellian]

I'm curious if you guys feel a need to constantly improve yourselves. *If so or not, how does this relate to your perfectionism?

Yes. In order to be the best, you must be constantly improving yourself. I believe this explains my perfectionism and my sudden change from P to J, as well as several other aspects of my personality.

1. When you say 'be the best' are you trying to measure up to ideals you set for yourself, or trying to stand out against other people? I don't so much care it I stand out against other people, so long as I measure up to my ideals.

2. It's arguable that one's basic type never changes. If you 'changed' from P to J, maybe you were either a J in the first place, or you are behaving like a J to stand out against others or for some other motive.

[Danellian]

I'm curious if you guys feel a need to constantly improve yourselves. *If so or not, how does this relate to your perfectionism?
Interesting question.
I have the need to 'improve ourselves' (I started a post titled such):
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

... and yet reject perfectionism in a post above.
So how do you improve and yet reject perfectionism?

To reconcile these apparent conflicting views, personal perfectionism clearly cannot be achieved- the faults are too numerous which gives plenty of room for improvement.
Task-oriented perfectionsim in a time-sensitive situation (aren't all tasks time-sensitive?) is often futile- a diminishing rate of return is soon reached.

So I always need to improve and it doesn't relate to perfectionism at all.
My self-improvement isn't driven by the desire for perfection, but driven by the faults and room for improvement.

So, what is the role of ideals in your needs for self-iimprovement?

[The Rose]

Yes. Definetely. Up to the point of making people angry at me.

I usually retype some part of my post at least once...

Same here. I have had to curtail a lot of my perfectionism because of my ISTP husband's irritation with it. But as someone else has said, it's just not healthy to be that uptight about stuff. I have learned to relax quite a bit. The quality of my work is just as good as when I agonized about perfection.

[The Rose]

I'm curious if you guys feel a need to constantly improve yourselves. If so or not, how does this relate to your perfectionism?
I do, but according to Keirsey that is an NF trait, and my T & F are split 50-50.

My need to improve is not associated with my need to be perfect. It comes from 2 different places in my soul.

Being a better me happens on the inside.
Being perfect is performance oriented.

[Paul V]

I'm curious if you guys feel a need to constantly improve yourselves. If so or not, how does this relate to your perfectionism?

Yes. In order to be the best, you must be constantly improving yourself. I believe this explains my perfectionism and my sudden change from P to J, as well as several other aspects of my personality.

1. When you say 'be the best' are you trying to measure up to ideals you set for yourself, or trying to stand out against other people? I don't so much care it I stand out against other people, so long as I measure up to my ideals.

2. It's arguable that one's basic type never changes. If you 'changed' from P to J, maybe you were either a J in the first place, or you are behaving like a J to stand out against others or for some other motive.


1) My own standards. I don't care the slightest bit about what other people think of me. I want to be the best for my own reasons, to feel I've done something worth remembering.

2) Hm. I think I disagree. I used to be an ENFP, who after being disappointed with people turned to an INTP, who after procrastinating too much turned to an INTJ. Bear in mind I've turned 18 recently, and it's natural for kids' personalities to change over time, specially if they've been exposed to traumas or shocking experiences (as I have).

[Danellian]

I'm curious if you guys feel a need to constantly improve yourselves. *If so or not, how does this relate to your perfectionism?
I do, but according to Keirsey that is an NF trait, and my T & F are split 50-50.

My need to improve is not associated with my need to be perfect. It comes from 2 different places in my soul.

Being a better me happens on the inside.
Being perfect is performance oriented.

Hmm...well, I'm most definately not an F, my T and J are my strongest traits, in fact. For me, I suppose it's more task oriented, though I really hadn't thought about dividing my need for self-improvement into internal and external categories, as you have done. I do feel the need to be a 'better me on the inside', but I relate this in terms of how I measure against standards of self-actualization and spiritual advancement. I'm not sure that an NF would look at self-improvement in terms of meeting standards; in fact, I see that such would an anathema to them, it would be a contradiction to being their authentic selves. For an NT, I picture self-improvement as increasing one's competency. That's how I view it - constantly striving to improve my competency in a variety of areas. I am always wanting to be more competent, I envision ideals of perfect competency, measure myself against those ideals, and, of course, most always fall short, since said ideals are unrealistic. I put myself under too much pressure with excessive self-criticism.

[Danellian]

Well, given your age, you are in adolescence, verging on early adulthood, so it is normal that you would be searching for your identity. I'm 27, and to tell you the truth, I didn't truly discover who I was until somewhere in my mid-twenties, and as I grow more as a person, I learn more about myself all the time. In a sense, self-discovery is a never-ending process. But in other sense, looking at the stages of life, adolescence and early adulthood present the task of discovering who we truly are, establishing a stable sense of identity. From my own experience, and I'm not saying you are doing this, but I have tried to be other types in the past, convinced myself I was those types, but at the end of they day, what I really needed to be was accepted myself for who I am, and I'm still, and always have been, an INTJ. I have learned to do some development with the other functions, which is a good thing, but I cannot tell myself I am another type than I am, which is not a good thing. You don't have to agree with me on this, I'm not trying to preach to you, but based on my own experience and the best theorizing I have access to, it seems to me that type is pretty much hard-wired.

[Paul V]

Well, given your age, you are in adolescence, verging on early adulthood, so it is normal that you would be searching for your identity. I'm 27, and to tell you the truth, I didn't truly discover who I was until somewhere in my mid-twenties, and as I grow more as a person, I learn more about myself all the time. In a sense, self-discovery is a never-ending process. But in other sense, looking at the stages of life, adolescence and early adulthood present the task of discovering who we truly are, establishing a stable sense of identity. From my own experience, and I'm not saying you are doing this, but I have tried to be other types in the past, convinced myself I was those types, but at the end of they day, what I really needed to be was accepted myself for who I am, and I'm still, and always have been, an INTJ. I have learned to do some development with the other functions, which is a good thing, but I cannot tell myself I am another type than I am, which is not a good thing. You don't have to agree with me on this, I'm not trying to preach to you, but based on my own experience and the best theorizing I have access to, it seems to me that type is pretty much hard-wired.

You might be right. I know I've been an N my entire life. Since I've never been an overly social person, I might have mistaken my eagerness to please others with Extroversion. Hm. The F vs T part seems tricky, though. I'm usually a very sensitive person, but I mask it pretty well, and I think I've always placed logic and common sense above everything else. J and P are really close, so...

I still wonder if the whole "Trying to constantly improve yourself" means I've been an NF at some point in my life. I've been that way ever since I can remember, and all the times I've changed my personality (hell, every decision I've ever made) have been because I wanted to improve myself...

[GOD]

I'm a 100 percent one.If my drawing is 0.001 mm not accurate I'll redraw it a million times.

I believe in fitness for purpose.

Perfectionism is just one end of the spectrum in the production of "anything".

[qwerty]

Yes, I am so thorough that sometimes it takes me a long time to get something done, which can lead to inefficiency. However, the result is sure to be precise and free of careless errors. Also, I feel the perpetual need to improve myself. So, I am always striving to advance according to the measuring stick of my own psychological and spiritual, and even physical, standards. When I say psychological standards, I'm talking about becoming more emotionally healthy, more liberated from me ego. By spiritual standards, I am always striving to attain more spiritual truth and to live according to that truth. By physical standards, I mean exercizing to advance in my level of physical shape. The problem is, I tend to be disatisfied with the current results, envisioning and comparing my current self to distant and lofty goals. Therefore, I envision being a self-actualized person, a spiritual guru, and bench pressing large amounts of weight, all of which simply cannot happen immediately. It all takes time, and even with time, I'm only human. It's great to strive for improvement, but not when it leads to lack of acceptance of yourself. The motive has to be in the right place.
:)

I was thinking about creating a topic to question what people here are looking to become (not in terms of work) but mentally and physically perfection is the absolute goal.

I think the best analogy I've ever heard on this topic is climbing a mountain. You strive to climb to the peak. Everyone does, but on the path people grow tired, they get involved with other people, they settle down or they just get lonely and never reach the top.
So the 'feeling' of accomplishment and the view can't be all? Can it? Do you climb forever and when you reach one peak you look into the distant horizon and see higher mountains still that you think are taller? At what point if any do you lose your sanity and never stop to smell the roses?