Behavioural experiments for perfectionism
Below are some examples of perfectionism thoughts, behaviours, and behavioural experiements to try.
Belief: I will fail on any ‘healthy eating plan’ because there’s always a party or a dinner to go to and I’ll overeat.
Perfectionism behaviour: Delaying starting a ‘healthy eating plan’.
Behavioural experiment: Develop a healthy eating plan which allows for exceptions such as parties.
Belief: If I let other students work on parts of the assignment, instead of doing it all myself, they'll do a terrible job and we won't get a good mark.
Perfectionism behaviour: Taking on the entire assignment because I don't trust the other students.
Behavioural experiment: Delegate tasks to other group members, build in enough time to check through everyone's work together to see if it is done well.
Use the boxes below to write down your own perfectionism behaviours and behavioural experiments you can try.