Dear Dr. Mimi: Perfectionist

Dear Dr. Mimi:
I am constantly fighting the urge to go back and tweak my projects at work; you could say I’m a bit of a perfectionist. Even when the project is turned in and I’ve been praised extensively for my hard work, I still have this feeling in the back of my head saying, “You could have done better than that.” How do I learn to accept something as good enough?
—Perfectionist

Dear Perfectionist:
Perfectionism is largely created by subjective perceptions that may not be accurate. Try to calm your mind. Ask yourself this: If my managers aren’t being negatively critical of my work, why should I be? In other words, if you are getting great praise for the work you are doing, then it’s safe to assume your manager finds your efforts more than satisfactory. If you still find yourself tweaking, get feedback while you are in the tweaking phase. Listen to their reaction to your projects. If they find it’s great the way it is, then you can logically assume you have done enough and you can move on.
—Dr. Mimi

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