The Controlling Perfectionist

This podcast episode discusses the importance of personal growth and self-improvement. It emphasizes the need to look inward and understand our personality traits in order to better navigate relationships and interactions with others. The episode specifically focuses on Obsessive Compulsive Personality (OCP) traits, such as perfectionism, rigidity, and a desire for orderliness. It also explores the effects of these traits on relationships, work, social life, and personal well-being. The episode concludes by emphasizing the importance of self-awareness and personal growth for fostering healthier relationships and making positive changes in the world. Hello and welcome to Inner Reflections, this is a podcast about changing the world by changing our hearts. Everyone has a unique journey, some are eager to improve themselves while others may find personal growth unnecessary. We dedicate this channel to those who recognize an innate need to grow and become the best versions of themselves as a notch of the world around them. In this passage, we start with understanding our personality differences, how they affect us and how we impact the world and others around us. As the saying goes, to change the world we must first change our hearts, this profound advice encourages us to look inward when we encounter something that bothers us and others or the world around us. Rather than resorting to confrontational techniques, which most of us lack the gentle, supportive and objective skill for, we will choose to look inward and improve ourselves in order to better face challenges with other people. Imagine a world where you and I and everyone else will intrinsically pursue self mastery, a world truly better in every sense. Finding ourselves at our core grants us an objective perspective on how we impact the world and the people around us. Join us as we embark on this transformative journey towards becoming the best versions of ourselves. Together, we can achieve greatness and make positive changes in our lives and the world around us. Personality traits can often create friction between individuals. To navigate these differences effectively, we must first understand our own traits and how they shape our interactions. In the coming weeks, I will leave installations seeking to provide insight into various personality types and how they affect relationships and communication. By recognising our very own personality traits, we can cultivate a deeper awareness of how we impact others and the world. Remember, change begins from within and the path to personal development lies in understanding who we are at our core. In today's episode, we will delve into Obsessive Compulsive Personality or OCP, which is characterised by a pervasive pattern of preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism and control. It is different from a very popular disorder called Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD, which is an anxiety disorder involving intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviour. People with OCP personality traits can use the following signs for inward reflection. Perfectionism. These people tend to set extremely high standards for themselves and others, often leading to dissatisfaction when these standards are not met. This can also lead to persistent judging of others against one's own standards and expectations. Rigidity and Stubbornness. These people may subconsciously insist on a series of specific rules and routines, with difficulty adapting to change or a different way of thinking. They may have excessive focus on details, getting lost in minor details and struggling to see the big picture. The fourth sign is Obsession with Orderliness, which is a constant need for cleanliness, organisation and symmetry. People with these personality traits are mostly workaholics. They have an intense drive to be productive, often at the expense of leisure and personal relationships, think about life and reflect on how much time and importance you dedicate to work vis-à-vis family, friends and leisure. Healthy individuals know how to find the balance. While these OCP personality traits do not find it an issue that they lack in this aspect. Number six is an inability to delegate. They may feel that no one else can perform tasks up to their expectations, leading to difficulty in trusting others. A common indicator is a feeling that everyone else doesn't do it as well as you would want it done or as well as you would do it, so you end up doing it all yourself and it's really, really exhausting. Number seven, Perseverance. This lot continuously works on tasks long after they are completed due to the fear of overlooking mistakes. They put in a lot of work but still end up not being as productive as they should due to the high demand they put on themselves. Number eight, Miserliness. This is an excessive desire to save money and it's an extreme form of meanness. They may heavily desire to grow money and invest while reigning there while denying themselves even the basic needs or wants that they can comfortably afford. Number nine, Hoarding of objects and a reluctance to discard worn out and worthless objects even those with no sentimental value. Now I know most of us will say I don't have all these traits but all you need from this list is four and you fall into this personality trait category. Here's the list again. Perfectionism, Rigidity, Stubbornness, Excessive focus on data, Obsession with orderliness, Inability to delegate, Perseverance, Miserliness or excessive meanness and a desire to hoard objects. How do you fare from the list? Please let me know in the comments below. Now that you know what OCP traits are, next we will explore their effects on personal relationships and social interactions. Number one and very very common is strained relationships. This need for perfection and control can create tension and frustration within relationships as others may feel inadequate or restricted by the OCP personality individual demand. Just imagine having this person for a spouse or a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Emotional Distance, Difficulty expressing emotions and reluctance to engage in intimate conversations can lead to emotional distance from loved ones and this is a very common trait for OCP personality. Work related challenges, while OCP individuals may excel at their jobs because of the hard work they put in and obsession with details, their inability to delegate and constant need for controlling others in situations can lead to strained work relationships and excessive stress. They have limited social life. The rigidity and adherence to strict routines may limit opportunities for socializing and making new connections. And number five is personal distress. The constant pursuit of perfection in older women can lead one to experiencing anxiety, stress and feelings of dissatisfaction impacting one's overall well-being. Okay, to wrap this up, understanding obsessive compulsive personality traits and recognizing it straight within ourselves is essential for personal growth and fostering healthier relationships. Once you start being self-aware, you give yourself a chance to sit back and not try to control everything which could make life so challenging that time. I hope this episode has brought some knowledge and a chance to self-reflect. In this channel, we focus on ourselves and we do not try to think about other people's personality traits because as we said, if you want to change the world, start by changing your heart. Until the next episode, we will discuss paranoid personality traits which simply means I can't trust anyone, I am suspicious of everyone and I interpret everyone's motives as evil. Thank you so much for tuning in. I will see you in our next episode. Adios. You You