It comes as no surprise that the pandemic has affected many lives globally, forcing everyone to accept a new norm of masks, SOPs, and lockdowns. Malaysia is also no stranger to lockdowns, having implemented various MCOs to combat the pandemic since the start of 2020. Every MCO since then has been associated with negatively impacting people’s mental health, reducing income in households and poverty, amongst other things. 

But what about the Malaysian economy?

Efforts by the government with multiple modifications to the MCO such as RMCO, CMCO, and EMCO intended to minimise the impact on the economy while saving lives and protecting their livelihoods were made. But was it really possible to save both at the same time? While active cases were reduced with repetitive lockdowns, were we seeing the same positive performance to the economy?

Ever caught yourself excessively checking and rechecking your work? 

Do you procrastinate finishing your tasks because it’s not perfect? 

Perhaps you pride yourself over your meticulous detail to perfection and are afraid of failing?

If you’ve watched Disney’s Encanto and find yourself associating with Isabella’s ‘What Else Can I Do?’ or Luisa’s ‘Surface Pressure’, these thoughts may have lingered in your mind a couple of times. Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s ok to experience various types of emotions. However, if we’re constantly thinking that way, then you should OPEN YOUR EYES wider! Why? Because my dear, you’re slowly putting yourself in danger of perfectionism!

Yes, you heard it right. Some might perceive it as good while others strive to reach that level. Perhaps it’ll result in you being chosen among others for opportunities like being selected as a leader or being showered by praises because it shows that you’re perfect. But the sad reality is that we’ve misunderstood the whole concept of perfectionism.

According to Mazmanian and Short, perfectionism is defined as ‘the tendency to strive towards personal improvement and putting high standards for oneself’. Striving for personal improvements is definitely a good thing to work on as it motivates you to keep improving. However, putting high standards on oneself could be deceiving if we interpret it wrongly. 

So, is it alright to strive for perfectionism? Is it wrong to set high standards on ourselves to be successful? To answer this, we must first dissect the myths of being a perfectionist, what it could cost you, and what it truly means.