I wouldn't want to describe myself as a perfectionist, but I was definitely a perfectionist earlier in my life (and probably have those tendencies still.) My parents always encouraged me to do my best, and to achieve as high as I could, which is a good thing. However, somewhere along the way, after doing well in many things, I expected I should be good at everything and didn't want to fail at anything. I probably suffered from something like the
imposter syndrome as well. (Supposedly many women suffer from this.)
That's not good, because then I limited myself and what I could experience. I became too critical of myself, too focused on results, and probably kept growing a low self-esteem. I would internally give up if I couldn't be "perfect" in something. It was like all-or-nothing.
I feel like I've been trying to undo perfectionism in myself the past few years - do my best still (we are given many gifts and should not waste them,) but don't worry if I fail, or get a "B" even. (MIT taught me a lesson in that... the hard way.) It's okay to mess up (one reason playing softball is good for me.) Don't let the results affect me too much, but focus on all the other more important things. I still catch perfectionist tendencies in myself, and have to undo those thoughts and behaviors, but I think I'm learning.

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