What Is Perfectionism?

Take our Perfectionism Test

Find a therapist near me

Create a holistic view of human excellence for yourself.

Don't allow your self-worth to be based on performance.

Develop the ability to value yourself without needing to perform, prove, or perfect.

The real gold medal is not something awarded by judges, algorithms, or audience, but yourself.

If you watched figure skater Mikhail Shaidorov standing proudly on the podium, gold medal in hand, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, you might have thought such an achievement was beyond your abilities—but you’ll see it’s possible for all of us.

Although Shaidorov is a winner, he is, more broadly, a symbol of a system in which self-worth is measured by microscopic margins and severe judgment, in which a lifetime of training is reduced to a few minutes of performance, ranked and evaluated.

This is not really about sport. The Olympics have promoted a culture in which value is equated with measurable outcomes, turning performance and achievement into the means by which we assess our self-worth.

Perfectionism is often seen as a virtue, but there’s a difference between healthy striving and maladaptive perfectionism—a pattern driven by fear of failure, external validation, and a sense of independent self-worth. The modern Olympian often trains their body to perfection while psychologically narrowing their sense of self to a single outcome. Hyperfocus, extreme specialisation, and shaving off milliseconds have psychological effects that encourage people to base their identity on achievement.

The connection between achievement and identity is made clear in the iconic statue of the discus thrower, the Discobolus, sculpted in........

© Psychology Today