Being a perfectionist has good and bad sides. It is important to educate and encourage children who are prone to perfectionism properly so that they do not suffer from the negative effects and bring their perfectionism to success and fulfilment.
What are the signs that a child is a perfectionist?
A perfectionist child
- is afraid of failing
- sees mistakes as weaknesses
- seeks recognition for his outward appearance
- cannot take criticism well
- Sees a grade that is less than the best as a failure
- lives with rigid rules
- believes that others achieve their success through less effort
When children treat everything with extreme precision, perfectionism becomes their strategy for solving problems and making decisions. As a result, they make themselves work hard and endlessly, often achieving the opposite, namely indecision and unattainable goals.
Perfectionism can easily develop into a vicious circle. The child works harder and harder to achieve a perfect result and is never satisfied with the outcome. The more he sees himself as a failure, the worse his self-esteem becomes and he tries all the harder to achieve his ambitious goal. However, perfectionism can be channelled into a valuable trait if properly encouraged. Perfectionism can become a strategy for learning perseverance and innovation. And don't forget: if you achieve a goal that you are satisfied with, it is usually excellent. The perfectionist's inability to settle for compromise can be channelled in a positive direction so that he fulfils his desires, as long as he does not put obstacles in his own way and prevent himself from achieving any results at all.
The basic rule with perfectionists is to welcome perfectionism with open arms and use it to your advantage without letting it control you. The parents of a perfectionist child can make the path easier if they recognise that their child is a perfectionist and help them to use perfectionism to their advantage.
