Gifted and Talented Report
Perfectionism or the Pursuit of Excellence?
Recently I came across an excellent article making sense of perfectionism. Some of the points raised had never occurred to me before. For example:
- Perfectionism can lead to procrastination- putting off work because one is afraid the work won’t be perfect
- Feelings of anger and shame at being the best
- Perfectionism is a self esteem issue
- Anxiety is at the core of perfectionism
- Fear of failure fuels this anxiety
- Our culture of individualism over the community fuels perfectionism- think of our gold medal winners and that being the epitome of success
The article makes the distinction between perfectionism and the pursuit of excellence. You may go all out to achieve your goals, and you may be disappointed by failures, but if you generally learn from your mistakes and are determined to do better on the next try, you are not necessarily perfectionistic.
Parents can create a space at home for acceptance through:
- Showing empathy: you might say, for example, “I notice you get really angry when you make a mistake! Can you say what’s going on?” Or: “When you make a mistake, what do you think of yourself?”
- Encouraging self acceptance
- Encouraging effort-“I’m really impressed with the amount of hard work you put into this project!”
- Ongoing dialogue
I encourage you to read the article as it has some good tips for teachers and parents.
Article: Tips for Parents: Making Sense of Perfectionism – Davidson Institute
Mrs Colreavy’s Conundrum
Find the odd one out from the given options.
- Arctic
- Atlantic
- Indian
- Greenland
Email: rachael.colreavy@syd.catholic.edu.au with your answer. Correct answers will win a prize.
Taken from: SSC CGL Prelims Reasoning Practice Test -1 – GeeksforGeeks
