Procrastination as the fear of becoming conscious of failure

In his book "Feeling Good, the New Mood Therapy", David Burns encourages us to embrace being average. He extensively writes about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and overcoming life problems caused by our mental distortions of reality. Similarly, French philosopher Henri Bergson writes about the multitude of attractive and possible forms the future can take. This concept is a source of the cosmic anxiety outlined by Oliver Burkeman in "Four Thousand Weeks - Time Management for Mortals". Committing to one path can be frightening because of the fear of failure if you define success clearly. However, such commitment seems necessary for finding meaning, a widely-used concept representing our reason for being in the world and the fuel that energizes us instead of draining us.

According to Burns, perfectionism is one of the possible causes of negative thoughts and states of being, along with the need for approval, love, achievement, entitlement, omnipotence, and authority (within the CBT framework). These elements can be either psychological strengths or emotional weaknesses, which can be evaluated through the dysfunctional attitude scale test.

Perfectionism is a concept that can be perceived as both beneficial and detrimental to effectiveness and time management. On one hand, striving for perfection can be a useful force when it comes to doing our best at a project, task, or activity that requires effort. On the other hand, it can become detrimental because excessive time spent on a project can lead to an endless loop of non-satisfactory outcomes, slowing down the process and driving us enraged in a vicious circle.

Moreover, it isn't easy to define perfection in the first place. The definition of perfection is often blurred and weak. Everything can be improved if you look closely and critically enough. Drawing the line of perfection can make a positive difference, and can also be the exact source of anxiety itself.

"Averageness is another kind of illusion, but it's a benign deception, a useful construct. It's like a slot machine that pays a dollar fifty for every dollar you put in. It makes you rich - on all levels" (Burns, 1980). As Voltaire once said, "Perfect is the enemy of good". In his book, Dr. Burns presents three ways to help let go of perfectionism:

• Be aware that fear often lurks behind perfectionism. Fear drives your compulsion to polish things to the ultimate. To begin confronting perfectionistic tendencies and looking at them objectively, the response-prevention form can be a useful tool. This practice involves recording the level of anxiety and any automatic thoughts that occur every one or two minutes until you feel completely relaxed.
• Focus on processes rather than outcomes as a basis for evaluating things. Developing a process orientation provides space for controlling what can be controlled, and letting go of what cannot, as the Stoics would say. For example, if you are applying for a job, you can dress confidently, have your resume typed professionally and adequately edited, express interest in the company, and encourage the interviewer to talk about themselves (Burns, 1980). You are in control of the process and how you present yourself and act. The final outcome, such as whether you advance further in the hiring process, is the product of many factors and is not under your control, so let it go.
• Internalize the idea of being comfortable with making mistakes. This also means focusing on processes rather than outcomes. The process of doing something leaves room for mistakes, which are necessary for learning, practicing, and honing our abilities. As Carl Rogers writes in his book 'On Becoming a Person': "The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction, not a destination. The direction that constitutes the good life is the one chosen by the entire organism when there is psychological freedom to move in any direction.”