The Hidden Cost of Perfectionism: Why You Never Feel Good Enough with Ellen Hendriksen
Feb 21, 2025
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Ellen Hendriksen, a clinical psychologist and author of "How to Be Enough," dives into the hidden costs of perfectionism. She explains how perfectionism leads to self-criticism and procrastination, revealing that it's less about achieving perfection and more about feeling inadequate. Ellen shares insights on self-acceptance as a remedy and discusses the emotional roots of procrastination. With anecdotes and humor, she emphasizes the vital role of self-compassion in overcoming perfectionist tendencies, encouraging listeners to embrace their imperfections.
Perfectionism is fundamentally about feeling inadequate rather than striving for flawless performance, leading to detrimental self-criticism.
Procrastination should be viewed as an emotional management issue rather than a mere time management problem to foster healthier habits.
Embracing self-compassion allows individuals to alleviate harsh self-criticism and recognize human limitations, promoting personal growth and emotional resilience.
Deep dives
The Value of Focused Work
Focusing on work for its own sake, rather than seeking validation or personal evaluation, leads to the best outcomes. When individuals detach their self-worth from their work, they are often able to produce higher quality results. This approach emphasizes the idea of handling tasks with an eye for information rather than personal significance. By making the work about the process rather than the person, individuals can mitigate the pressure that perfectionism often imposes.
Understanding Perfectionism
Perfectionism is more about the feeling of inadequacy and never being good enough than the pursuit of flawless performance. It often masquerades as positive traits such as being hardworking or driven, creating a delicate balance that can quickly tip into self-criticism. This distinction is crucial for recognizing when a desire for excellence becomes damaging. Acknowledging this can help individuals understand the emotional toll and avoid conflating their self-worth with their achievements.
Embracing Mistakes
How one handles mistakes can vary widely among individuals, with some being more forgiving than others. Learning from public figures exemplifies this, such as the contrasting approaches between Mr. Rogers and Walt Disney regarding error acknowledgment. While Mr. Rogers showed grace in mistakes and presented them as teachable moments, Walt Disney allowed minor imperfections to overshadow his successes. Creating a culture that accepts mistakes as part of the learning process can foster resilience and growth.
Procrastination as Emotional Regulation
Procrastination is rooted in emotional management rather than merely a lack of time management skills. When faced with aversive tasks, the immediate emotional relief from avoiding those tasks can create a harmful cycle of increased anxiety and self-criticism. Recognizing procrastination as a symptom of emotional distress encourages individuals to address their feelings rather than merely focusing on productivity. By breaking tasks into manageable pieces and practicing self-compassion, one can effectively combat procrastination.
The Importance of Self-Compassion
Self-compassion plays a vital role in managing the pressures of perfectionism, allowing individuals to treat themselves kindly in the face of setbacks. By adopting a more forgiving internal dialogue, people can mitigate the harsh self-criticism that typically accompanies feelings of failure. This compassionate approach helps to accept human limitations and breathe space into the process of self-reflection. Ultimately, practicing self-compassion not only aids in emotional regulation but also fosters a positive mindset for personal growth.
In this episode, Ellen Hendriksen discusses the hidden costs of perfectionism and why you never feel good enough. She shares the various ways perfectionism disguises itself as a positive trait—when in reality, it can lead to self-criticism, procrastination, and emotional exhaustion. Ellen also explains why perfectionism is less about being perfect and more about never feeling good enough, how self-acceptance is the antidote, and why procrastination is actually an emotional regulation problem (not a time management issue).
Key Takeaways:
(01:02) – Perfectionism isn’t about being perfect—it’s about never feeling good enough
(03:26) – The two wolves of perfectionism: Conscientiousness vs. Self-Criticism
(07:36) – Overevaluation: When self-worth gets tangled with performance
(16:57) – Guided Drift: Mr. Rogers’ surprising philosophy on perfection and mistakes
(26:51) – The power of self-compassion: You don’t need to be perfect to be worthy
(39:40) – Emotional Perfectionism: The toxic belief that you “shouldn’t” feel a certain way
(43:59) – Why procrastination is actually about emotion management—not time management
(50:46) – How to release past mistakes and stop ruminating over failures