Being a perfectionist can lead to high achievement. However, often perfectionism is negative because it makes people so afraid of making mistakes that they don’t even try and achieve their goals.

Bad perfectionism is characterised by rigid thinking, over-preparing, procrastinating and never allowing others to help you out.

Perfectionism is dangerous because it is linked to anxiety, anorexia nervosa, depression, early death, difficulty with intimate relationships, lower sexual satisfaction, low self-esteem and social anxiety.

One way to escape perfectionist thoughts is to think about what advice you’d give a friend who was in a similar position to you. Then, turn that advice back onto yourself.

Tackling perfectionist behaviours is best done by practising being imperfect.

Kintsugi is a Japanese art form which highlights the beauty in imperfection.