How to Break Through Perfectionism

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If we can learn to treat ourselves with kindness every time something goes wrong, we will instantly start to break down those self-critical features of perfectionism that make it such a difficult person I try to carry around. The second thing is to challenge our perfectionism in important ways. Being yourself critical after setbacks is crucial, but also putting ourselves in situations where we encounter setbacks is also crucial. And thirdly, and this is really important, always remember that whatever you do, failure is not humiliating, it's humanizing, it's normal and natural to fail.

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Most of us know perfectionism as the relentless pursuit of flawlessness, our fatal flaw of having a constant need to meet impossibly high standards. It's a trait that many of us strive for, believing that it will lead to success and happiness. But what if I told you that this concept of perfectionism as we know it isn’t the full picture? And the badge of honour we think perfectionists wear is one big misconception. Today I’m joined by Professor Thomas Curran, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics. With over a decade of experience, Professor Curran is a world leading expert on perfectionism. He has written for the Harvard Business Review, New Scientist, The Guardian, Telegraph and Wall Street Journal. In 2018, he gave a TEDMED talk which has over 3 million views and earlier this month he published his book The Perfection Trap: The Power of Good Enough in a world that always wants more’. In the conversation we talk about the paradoxical effects of perfectionism, how our perfectionistic traits stem from a cultural obsession rather than a personal flaw and shows what we can do as individuals to resist the modern-day pressure to be perfect - and how we can create a culture that celebrates the joys of imperfection.

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