Perfectionism in SEO: The Road to Self-Destruction

At the beginning of my SEO career, I wanted to get a lot of things perfect. I wanted to be that person who:

• He was in the office from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m
• They went through the day super full of energy, motivated, persistent and with a lot of momentum for their daily successes.
• She really impressed her bosses and teammates.
• Constantly advanced.
• He did excellent work on ridiculously tight deadlines, yet never missed meetings, conferences, talks and presentations, and dinners with friends.

I tried. But soon after I suffered severe burnout – and I wasn’t even 30!

I am not alone in this experience. Perfectionism is a pervasive challenge in many industries.

Out of 464 SEO experts, 30.2% consider themselves to be perfectionists, says a Twitter poll I’ve been running recently.

Perfectionist expectations can hold us back in our careers. Thirty percent of employees are considering leaving their workplace because of this, based on Research by the Hardin Group.

This article will reveal why we need to talk about perfectionism and how SEO professionals can overcome unhealthy perfectionist tendencies.

Perfectionism in the workplace

Regardless of the industry, young professionals tend to admire and put people on a pedestal who have seemingly “perfect” lifestyles. We see them as the epitome of success and bestow upon them the glorious and glamorous title of ‘perfectionist’.

The thought of finding problems with these characters to make them more relatable to our outdated lives may seem very uncharitable.

We ask, “What is the point in this unstable and unenthusiastic world of complaining about an overzealous pursuit of perfection? Besides, all I want to do is be inspirational, right?”

What could be so flawed in the pursuit of perfection in what, to our inner demons, is a mundane SEO task?

I am not criticizing the efforts of those who want to be perfectionists. We in the SEO community are in the fortunate position of being the recipients of their outstanding work.

The concern here is the indescribable – and therefore unknown – effects of perfectionism on our souls and mental health.

The roots of perfectionism

It is in our human nature to find attractive and glamorous what seems unattainable and in some cases inaccessible.

In order to value something, it has to stand us.

What is free and accessible is usually overlooked and considered cheap (even when we know something is of excellent quality or the best we can have).

Perfectionism does not come from a love for things to always be clean and without mistakes. Its origins are much darker.

It is triggered by memories of disapproval and emotional neglect from our parents or mother/father figures we grew up with.

Emotional neglect leads us to develop self-comparison, idealization, toxic competitiveness, and the ability to learn to know ourselves from the inside and accept everyone else just because of their highly polished exterior.

Perfectionism didn’t happen right away when we started working in SEO.

Perhaps it has always been in us and manifested itself dramatically early in our careers.

Why do we become perfectionists?

“For a perfectionist, striving for impossible, sky-high standards and goals can only be eternal self-defeat, leading to loneliness and depression.”

The Perfectionist Scenario for Self-Defeat, David D. Burns, Psychology Today

We develop into perfectionists when we try to overcome the image we have built of ourselves:

Unworthy, annoying, someone who doesn’t live up to expectations, ugly, someone who was once told by a parent or authority figure, “you could be better.”

The inner feeling of inadequacy becomes so strong and terrifying in our minds that we are ready to commit whatever it takes to be validated and to be far more than good enough.

Good enough? That’s average.

A perfectionist wants to be the “best” in everything and every area of ​​his life.

“Love me, like me, accept me, follow me” are subconsciously manifested in their actions on a daily basis.

The reality is that a perfectionist is not interested in perfect work. Instead, they are just trying to escape the belief that they are horrible individuals.

Work and social media are just how they want to become more acceptable in our eyes.

But since the fundamental issue of the perfectionist did not start with work, then this cannot be the solution.

The real motivation of a perfectionist is not to achieve career success, but to feel like a worthy human being.

Being accepted, appreciated and praised is not the responsibility of our employers or the SEO community.

When we give the best of our work with our perfectionism, the community will expect more, simply because people enjoy great content (it’s completely natural, no sinister intentions).

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Here are four tips to help you overcome perfectionism.

1. Healthy sanitation

We need to recognize what drives or motivates us to be perfect – and then try to channel it in a healthy way.

Equally important is changing the mindset that makes us work so hard under the impression that we are unworthy people if we don’t.

Hard work is neither the answer nor the cure when we feel worthless or horrible.

It is important to be kind to ourselves and understand that we are worthy of being accepted. It is never our fault if for any reason we are not.

2. Self-compassion

Open a picture of yourself as a child. Look into that little face and ask, “Is it too much to ask that you believe in yourself every time you submit a report, apply for a job, or submit a proposal to speak at a conference?”

What would your answer be?

Doing well and being ambitious are admirable goals. However, it becomes a sign of mental turmoil when used to mask a desire to make up for a lack of early affection.

3. Rest and self-awareness

We should reserve periods of the calendar to do nothing but be with ourselves.

It’s a way of being kind to ourselves and letting all those feelings of anger come out, acknowledge themlet them go and move on.

4. Forgiveness and abandonment

Remember that in most cases, those who emotionally neglected us as children does not mean that they did not love us. Maybe they didn’t know how to say it.

Those who have always made us feel inadequate in the name of “wanting the best for us” were probably living their lives through us and may have truly wanted the best for us.

It is essential to learn to develop self-awareness, take responsibility and let go.

The moment we begin to work on letting go, we begin to heal.

As we begin to heal, we begin to care more about ourselves and less about impressing or pleasing others. With horrible words, we master the art of not giving af*ck when we heal.

Dig deeper:

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The opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily those of Search Engine Land. Staff authors are cited here.

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