Two things that I have struggled with all my life, and still do, are obsessive-compulsive disorder and perfectionism. It’s not a full-blown obsession that causes me to never do anything unless it’s perfect. It’s more of a subtle obsession over certain things, making me unnecessarily uncomfortable with how I did something. Unfortunately, it has caused me to second-guess myself countless times, which resulted in negative outcomes.

Seeing as I still struggle with perfectionism, I can’t really speak as a role model too much, only someone who knows what it’s like to have to deal with it.

What exactly am I trying to say? Imagine having dirt on your hands for a little while, feeling that you should wash them before doing something like eating. However, by the time you finally wash them, you’ve gotten used to your hands feeling dirty so you subconsciously act like they still are. Now you feel like you have to wash them again until they actually feel perfectly clean.

I would imagine most people would read this example and scoff at the absurdity of it. It’s so stupid, right? Yet it’s so deceivingly easy for some people to fall into.

Everyone wants to do well, and have others congratulate them in such a way that they feel they couldn’t and shouldn’t have done it any better. Every person has different strengths and weaknesses, and for some people, a weakness may be doing something just the way they imagined it or else the anxiety comes in like a cavalry.

That being said, I guess we could say that everyone suffers from such things at some point in their lives, whether or not you could diagnose them as having a disorder. Again, I’m not saying that I’m always stressed out about these things. In fact, I’m sure many people who know me well would tell you that they’ve rarely, if ever, noticed it. That’s because it’s not something people need to be aware of unless I’m using it to prove a point.

I’m not trying to say that you’re shouldn’t care about doing things well. Another obvious statement, but it needs to be thrown in. There’s a fine line between avoiding perfectionism and not caring. For the most part, it should be common sense, so you can figure it out.

For the people who may struggle with what I’ve described myself as struggling with, you’re not alone. Don’t think that it’s the end of the world if something goes right. I’m not trying to be a role model here because I still fall into this at times. You just need to realize that perfectionism will take you down a road that you don’t want to go down. It’s stressful in all aspects of the mind and body. Let’s hope all perfectionists will overcome this weakness.