The Bulletproof Musician

How Much Perfectionism Do You Really Need to Succeed?


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A friend recently asked if it's true that becoming a virtuoso performer requires being a perfectionist.

Well, spoiler alert, it's not a simple yes or no answer. And there are a lot of fascinating nuances to explore. 

One of which involves performance anxiety, and the question of whether perfectionism increases or decreases nerves.

Get all the nerdy details and find out how much perfectionism might work best:

How Much Perfectionism Do You Really Need to Succeed?

References

Racine, P., Laflamme, S. V., Gaudreau, P., & Langlois, F. (2025). Please don’t stop the music! A new look at the performance anxiety of musicians with the model of excellencism and perfectionism. Psychology of Music. https://doi.org/10.1177/03057356241300538

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The Bulletproof MusicianBy Noa Kageyama

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