Qualities of a pERFECTionist  

By Gary Furr

1.  Perfectionists cannot stand it when something is not completed.  For example, when a person…

2.  There is a rigidity about things always having to be a certain way or else they become very upset.  Things cannot be out of order, altered from their usual place, etc.

4.  If you’re going to do your best, you can’t always worry about pleasing everyone else (“You know you shouldn’t be writing this blog.  I told you to major in something else.)  Pay no attention to that voice in my head…

3.  Practice makes prefect.  Practiec makes perfct  prca.  Aw, you know what I mean.

5.  Almost perfect is never good enough.  Perfection is so hard to reach, you often don’t try.

These next ones are for real, from an article by Elizabeth Scott at About.com:

High achievers tend to be pulled toward their goals by a desire to achieve them, and are happy with any steps made in the right direction. Perfectionists, on the other hand, tend to be pushed toward their goals by a fear of not reaching them, and see anything less than a perfectly met goal as a failure.

            Sometimes our goals are so lofty with a song, recording, preparing, or writing, that we are immobilized.   My friend, the late John Claypool, used to say that there’s a difference between wanting to do something and wanting to BE somebody.  The first group accomplishes a lot.  The second group tends to make themselves and everyone around them miserable.  It’s all about “how you look.”  Faggetaboutit!

            Lose yourself in the task.  Don’t worry too much about how to sign your autographs just yet.  Just write good songs.  Sing your best.  All that obsession with fame, stuff, adoration and making a million is about being PUSHED.  Let yourself be pulled by something that offers so much joy you just HAVE to find it!