The two articles I chose to discuss both caught my eye immediately, just from reading their titles. I resonated with both of these articles because perfectionism and self-criticism are two things I struggle with on a regular basis and would like to move past.
The article “How to Mentor a Perfectionist” touched on the many aspects of perfectionism and how environment plays a role in why we have perfectionist tendencies. I am a perfectionist. The article touched on how individuals successful in their fields are proud to be perfectionists; that has never been the case for me. I am not proud to be a perfectionist, rather I view my perfectionism as debilitating because of how it prevents me from growing, just as the article suggests. My issue has never been about acknowledging the negative effects of perfectionism. I just cannot seem to move past and overcome it. And so, I appreciated this article because it provided strategies or ideas on how to help a perfectionist leave behind those tendencies. Granted, I don’t have a mentor to help me do so, but I do think these strategies can be adjusted and applied so that I can help myself in the absence of a mentor. Also, I want to mention how interesting it was to learn that women are more likely to have perfectionist tendencies than men because of the pressure put onto them to prove themselves as capable in any environment, whether it be work or academic. I know firsthand that this kind of environment exists, but I never considered that perfectionism was a direct byproduct of the scrutiny in a male-dominated society.
The other article I read ties into the idea of perfectionism. Actually, the first article mentioned how perfectionism goes hand-in-hand with self-criticism, which happens to be the subject of “Silence the Critical Voices in Your Head”. This articles focuses on how, for some, criticism outweighs positive feedback and more greatly affects us. And that does happen for me. I tend to focus more on the negatives even when the positives heavily outnumber the negatives because I am critical of myself, so seeing the negative feedback from others amplifies the thoughts I already have about my work. I enjoyed this article because it did actually focus on the positives, just as its title would suggest. The author composed four steps towards silencing those negative voices, and each of them centered around channeling positivity. Leaving behind this damaging critical mindset is such an important step in moving towards growth. And, this feeds into the idea of overcoming perfectionism, because once you can see how feedback is meant to help as opposed to hurt you, then you won’t be as worried about making mistakes and gaining feedback in the future.
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