Type A – Perfectionist

Do your friends describe you as a Type A Personality?  Now, do you consider this a strength or a weakness?

Dr. Friedman and Dr. Rosenman, both cardiologists, identified the Type A behavior by accident.  They found that their waiting-room chairs needed to be reupholstered much sooner than they expected.  When the chairs were taken to be repaired, the doctors were told something interesting.  The upholsterer upon inspecting the chairs observed that material had worn in a way that he had not typically seen.  He commented there must be something different about the doctors’ patients because he had never seen a similar wear pattern on chairs.  This pattern indicated that the people using the chairs seemed unable to sit back in the seats.  They used the arms to push themselves forward, rubbing the arms of the chairs.  The pattern also showed they tended to sit on the edge of the seat and leaped up frequently.

Dr. Friedman and Dr. Rosenman decided to study their patients’ behavior.  Their research resulted in the documentation of two personality types, Type A and Type B, and what they called the Type A Behavior Pattern (TABP).  The TABP is a strive for perfectionism and consists of three components: competitiveness, time urgency, and hostility.

Type A individuals are inclined to be very competitive and self-critical. They push toward perfectionism without a sense of joy.  Their focus creates a significant life imbalance between high work involvement and low personal life participation.  Type A individuals are always pressured and often overreact. 

Type A personalities face a constant sense of urgency.  A Type A person is in a continual struggle with meeting self-imposed deadlines.  Their needs for perfection put them at odds with schedules. Delays and unproductive time cause them to become impatient.  Their commitments are scheduled to the minute.  Multi-tasking is part of their life, always trying to do more than one thing at a time, like eating, working, and talking on the phone all at the same time. 

A Type A person goes to anger or frustration quickly.  With perfection as the ruler, coworkers, and family members never seem to measure up.  Since the Type A person uses the same rule for their own life, they have difficulty feeling or expressing compassion for others.   

Does this describe you?  Can you say, “Human beings are imperfect by nature and therefore are not capable of being perfect”?  This is a statement that will allow you to turn off the pressure of perfectionism!  Ok, this does not mean we are to put all efforts on the shelf.  It does mean that everyone makes mistakes, and our ruler needs to include the ability to learn from our mistakes.  

Perfectionism is fraught with dangers and negative consequences.  It is common for individuals to respond to their failure and mistakes by hating themselves.  They react to their lack of reaching perfection by feeling inadequate or unworthy.  This overwhelming sense of failure is neither healthy nor productive.

Altogether too often, individuals react to their perceived lack of perfection by punishing themselves for missing the mark.  Now, imagine the result of the cycle of setting impossible standards and failing to reach perfection.  Yes, this can lead to high blood pressure, heart problems, depression, and anxiety.  

Think about it.  Failure and mistakes are, in fact, integral parts of the process of learning any and all new skills.  Remember what Thomas Edison said, “I did not fail.  I found 10,000 ways not to make a light bulb and the one way to make it.” 

A complete person includes a full continuum of emotions as well as qualities, both good and bad.  We should follow Paul’s advice by accepting that human imperfections are a part of all of us.  To include all your parts, even the flaws, within your sense of self.  Learn about the parts of yourself.  Yes, work on improving some while being thankful for those you admire. 

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”   II Corinthians 12:9

Cheryl Gowin and Dennis Gowin.  Call us with your feedback, comments, issues, or questions; our phone number is 434-808-2637.