Are you a perfectionist when put in charge of something?

Many introverts and highly sensitive people experience a Catch 22. They invest energy and worry into doing things as well as possible (even if they don't want to do it in the first place). Stimulating more invitations, opportunities and demands to do it more.

What a good recipe for overwhelm!

Preparation and Research

Do you spend hours in research and preparation when you have responsibility over something? Do you do all you can to get it right? Perhaps you stay up late into the night worrying about the smallest details. In this episode I explain my own experience of this over the past couple of years in my job as an undertaker.

Be careful because when you do things well you may well be asked to do them again. You may even develop a reputation because you create good results. The issue comes when it's something you resent investing time, energy, worry and anxiety into. They are resources that you can't afford to waste.

It's time to develop tools that can prevent the Catch 22 spiral taking you off course.

The Catch 22

This is one of the most cherished qualities in introverts and HSP's. It means that many gentle rebels can be handed a task and left to get on with it, knowing that it will be done to a standard.

It breeds a perception of reliability and trustworthiness. This feels nice. It's kind of cool to be thought of as people who are trusted to do a good job. But don't be fooled by that hit of feel-good hormone.

He is Good at Everything

I have a friend. He is brilliant at anything he puts his mind to and makes it seem like everything he touches turns to gold. Chatting to him however I realise there is great anxiety, neuroticism and tormenting perfectionism pulling at him beneath the surface.

He spends hours worrying about things and making sure he gets it right. As a result people don't realise that asking a small favour of him is not as small as even he might make it seem. But he hides it well and people don't see behind those curtains.

What goes on behind your curtains? Are you caught in the Catch 22, making everything you do (even the stuff you don't really care about) as good as possible - spending needless hours perfecting and worrying? And if so, how can you balance the desire for high standards with self-care and selectivity so that you do what you actually care about developing and investing in?

This is what we look at in this week's episode.

Do you find yourself in the Catch 22 of Wanting to Do Things Really Well Even if You Don't Want to Do the Thing in The First Place?