“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when nothing is left to take away. Beauty and ingenuity beat perfection hands down, every time.”

When I thought of writing about perfectionism, I was confused like many others: Whether perfectionism is good or bad? Is it healthy or unhealthy? Is it loved or hated?

We will debate about it later…but the term needs some deeper introspection and deep exploration. I came across this term quite early in life and remember it quite categorically, how?

Like all children of our times, we loved watching the black and white series of famous comedian Charlie Chaplin on DD, who was loved all over for his timing and expressions. He was loved so much in the Varma household that my father loved to watch him in cinema halls and we tagged along. It was quite a different experience altogether. On one such outing, my mother observed something peculiar and told my father: Film mein har kaam Charlie Chaplin ne kiya hai? Hamari filmon mein to har kaam ke liye alag aadmi hota hai. Very pertinent observation.

Why did she say so? She noticed that his name appeared multiple times in the opening credits, as he often wrote, directed, produced, edited, starred in, and even as a music composer. He did it all for his movies.

To this my father made a cryptic reply: This is because he is a Perfectionist. He wants to do everything his way – perfectly. Probably my mother found this strange, after which he supported his argument saying that Charlie Chaplin was a perfectionist, that is how he could take up so many roles for many of his movies.

And he is not the only one, many Hollywood and Bollywood directors have a reputation for taking their roles seriously over some others. At some point in their careers, they have been labelled as perfectionists, have become known for exhibiting perfectionist behaviour, or have been open about their desire to make everything perfect. It is not automatically a good or bad thing to approach the act of filmmaking in this way, but it is an interesting idea, and it is, therefore, worth looking at some of the directors who have become known for perfectionist tendencies.

And, directors are not the only tribe, many authors have taken years to complete a novel or a book but have created a masterpiece. Then many have created a masterpiece in an instant. It depends on how fast you achieve perfection. But then perfection has two aspects: Perfection from your angle and perfection from other’s angle and it is important to be perfect from both angles.

So, what is perfection?

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when nothing is left to take away. Beauty and ingenuity beat perfection hands down, every time.

When we talk about perfectionism in workplace parlance, results affirm that perfectionism meaningfully and consistently predicts several “beneficial” workplace outcomes. For example, perfectionists are more motivated on the job, work longer hours, and can be more engaged at work.

Truly speaking you need to have a perfectionist’s mental state as it is a psychological condition.

Perfectionism, in psychology, is a broad personality trait characterized by a person’s concern with striving for flawlessness and perfection and is accompanied by critical self-evaluations and concerns regarding others’ evaluations. It is best conceptualized as a multidimensional and multilayered personality characteristic, and initially, some psychologists thought that there were many positive and negative aspects.

How do you identify a person to be a perfectionist? Amir Khan is labelled as Mr. Perfectionist in Bollywood as he pays complete attention to details before enacting a scene. This way we see that perfectionists strain compulsively and unceasingly toward unattainable goals.

They measure their self-worth by productivity and accomplishments to the point that some tendencies even lead to distraction from other areas of life. Perfectionists pressure themselves to achieve unrealistic goals that inevitably lead to disappointment. Perfectionists tend to be harsh critics of themselves, their work, and their failure to meet their expectations.

The good news is that perfectionism is a mindset — and not a permanent state, or a life sentence. With increased awareness, daily practice and some mental grit, perfectionists can free themselves from the illusion of perfectionism.

Sometimes, when people come to know that you are a perfectionist, they ridicule you. This makes you feel depressed and you start questioning yourself: Is being perfect a mental disorder? Not really! This indicates that you are out of the ordinary when ordinary people try to deliver things, somehow, anyhow, perfectionists do it in a methodical way putting slightly more resources like time.

All of us have dreams, some are small, some are big, some are distant, some are far-flung, some are achievable, and some are not (maybe). When we have dreams, we have a passion. When we have a passion, we want to do it with perfection.

Often, when we have some goals, we want to start it with a blast. We want to become an overnight star. We want to achieve the best as soon as possible. But things take time. It gets better with time, but the key is to start as soon as possible and move on with your task in a perfect manner. You need not be a perfectionist to achieve your goals and make it a lengthy process which causes frustration later. Your perfection to achieve so many things in life robs you off of your happiness, sometimes.

So, happyHo!