Working Against Me

This year will mark my eighteenth since graduating college, but yet I've only recently learned a few odd things about myself. We all have our personality traits and habits that make us unique. While these are not always things to be proud about, there must be something healthy about acknowledging them.

The two personal traits I've finally come to grips with are the two big "P" ones: perfectionism and procrastination.

I've always tended to think that there was something wrong with being a perfectionist. It sounded too elitist for me. And perhaps the "perfect" part of the term isn't always true. Just be cause I want things done a certain way, doesn't necessarily mean they need to be perfect. This trait is almost excessively shown during my work projects. I can't really say I'm a big perfectionist at home. When doing home projects, I have often taken the easy route or called something "good enough". Yet at work, I don't hesitate to put in the extra time to see something completed just so. After someone recently applied that label to me in a conversation, I initially rejected the notion, but quickly had to admit that it might be so. I guess I need to be proud of the trait and use it to my benefit. In my line of work, it can't be too bad of a thing...

Procrastination on the other hand, would seem to conflict with perfectionism. I'm here to say it often does. It's one thing to get started on the right foot and get totally involved in an idea or project, only to lose steam and never see it completed. I think we all have some of that trait in us, but it's something I've seen in myself for a long time. Like perfectionism, I rejected the label because of the negative aspects of it. I'd hate to think that I'm lazy. I seldom have time to sit down and waste the day away. When something needs to be done, I usually respond quickly. Unfortunately, the list of things on my "true" to-do list is as long as my arm. Only a small portion of them are work-related. Most of them are items I'm sure I'll will be on the list the rest of my life: exercise more, eat better, floss more, go to bed earlier at night, you get the idea. Of course, my to-do list isn't actually put together. I'll do that later (ha). But having embraced that trait, I look forward to tackling it on a daily basis and not letting it get too out of hand.

I look forward to learning more about myself as I get wiser and even grayer. Perhaps this is what is truly meant by the term "wise". Maybe getting wiser means finally recognizing our faults and traits.