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#48 Rethinking perfectionism
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#48 Rethinking perfectionism

9 of your (and my) questions about perfectionism and addiction, answered by the author of The Perfectionist's Guide To Losing Control, Katherine Morgan Schafler

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Holly Whitaker
Mar 16, 2023
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“Perfectionism is powerful; it’s a force. Like any power, perfectionism is dichotomous in nature; it can be constructive or destructive, depending on how you manage it. And yes, perfectionism can absolutely be useful.”  - Katherine Morgan Schafler

Here’s something fun: I spent five hours trying to introduce the below Q&A on perfectionism and addiction, and Katherine Morgan Schafler’s book, The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control, only to trash everything I’d written and send you this version—written in thirty minutes—instead.

Which I think speaks to why this topic, and Katherine’s book, impacted me so much. Not because I am a perfectionist (which I am, probably obviously1) but because perfectionism is a highly nuanced, complicated, largely misunderstood concept. Its products are rewarded, its process is embarrassing, and when someone says “You’re being such a perfectionist about this,” they’re not usually paying you some kind of compliment. They’re telling you about something they …

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