Renowned wellness educator Joyce Sunada once said, “If you don’t make time for your wellness, you will be forced to make time for your illness.” Working in Life Sciences for as long as I have, I could not agree more with this statement. In the busyness of the world, we often forget that we need to tend to ourselves just as fervently as we do to our careers and passions. In the book “The Perfection Trap: Embracing the Power of Good Enough,” author Thomas Curran highlights how the pursuit of perfection can become a dangerous obsession.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 970 million people, or 1 in 8 people, were living with a mental disorder in 2019. While this number is already too high, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a drastic increase in disorders, with estimates of a 26% and 28% increase for anxiety and major depressive disorders. I believe a significant contributor to these statistics is not only global turmoil but also the internal struggles that we face, often internally and alone.
Curran explains that burnout and depression are at an all-time high, caused by intense work competition, constant social media comparisons, the pressure to achieve top credentials, and overbearing parenting. Society constantly pushes us to want more and strive for perfection. However, this is not how humans are designed to live; in fact, it goes against our very nature. The true irony is that most of the societal pressures we feel are actually keeping us from reaching our full potential.
As both a business leader and a human still learning and evolving to navigate our complex world best, I appreciate how the book skillfully dismantles the myth of perfectionism. It shows how striving for flawlessness can be detrimental to our mental health and not something that should be coveted. It’s a crucial read for anyone looking to improve their well-being and understand the importance of self-compassion.
It’s time for widespread communities to prioritize mental health over unrealistic expectations. Although it is easier said than done, we must resist the modern-day pressure to be perfect. There is no such thing as true perfection, but we can all work to become our happiest, healthiest selves, which is the only “perfection” we truly need!
