The Shocking Truth: Being An Overachiever Will Hurt Your Career

Article Originally Published on Forbes

I’m not sure when it all started. From the time I can remember, I put my toys away neatly while other children played with reckless abandon. I was shy, quiet, loved to build with Legos and organizing things. One day I grew up, lost the shyness, became a professional young woman and a chronic overachiever.

I was extremely competitive (particularly with myself). I was compelled towards perfectionism. And I thought all of these things were excellent character traits guaranteed to get me ahead in the world of business.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. Being an overachiever will hurt your career growth.

The Wake-Up Call

It was performance review time. As one of the leading project managers at my organization, I was responsible for a significant amount of revenue. I strove for excellence and set high standards for myself, including my team. I was never satisfied with the job I did although I was certifiably polite and professional at all times to others. While I was polite, I didn’t necessarily demonstrate how much I valued others. I was busy! Too busy to chit chat and too busy to focus on anything other than the tasks at hand.

The result: I got a bad peer review.

The Pivot Point

Through the process of shock and disappointment came reflection: I realized that I had blinders on for most of my life. I was fearful of failure and determined to be perfect. I expected that overachievement (including long hours) would bring career success and I was convinced that being strictly professional was what you were supposed to do!

In actuality, I made my life a lot harder and was denied the true success that comes with a balanced approach. I didn’t allow myself to step out of my ‘comfort zone’ and I stunted my growth. I didn’t genuinely connect with others. The reality is that being an overachiever will hurt your career.

Downfalls Of Being An Overachiever

1. You expect too much. Driving yourself and others to a (sometimes unreasonably) high standard not only makes you hard to deal with, but it guarantees that you will never be satisfied with anything you do. Perfectionism is not attainable. Those who want perfect outcomes are always destined for disappointment.
2. You always want to be the best. No one likes people who always have to be the best at everything (even if they really are). Constantly being driven to outperform others is a sign of weakness. You might as well hold a sign that says: “I’m afraid to fail!” Failure isn’t a bad thing, although we are conditioned to think so. All true development comes from mistakes.  John Maxwell, “Failure is simply a price we pay to achieve success.”
3. You have the superhero complex. You may logically admit that you cannot be everything to everyone. But if you constantly put too much on your plate, overbook yourself, and don’t ever ask for help, you have the superhero complex. In all likelihood, you are also seriously stressed out, overwhelmed and feel underappreciated.
4. You’re constantly firefighting. This often happens to the chronic overachiever. Because I exhibited excellence in managing my projects and an overdeveloped sense of responsibility, I eventually became the project “fixer” when things went sour. At first, this constant firefighting seemed to equal success — until I became burned out.

Curing Chronic Overachiever Syndrome

Finding a balance that will satisfy the overachieving personality can be challenging. However, to ensure professional and personal success, it is critical to develop a broader perspective and embrace the imperfect. Most overachievers find it hard to connect with others. This often results in becoming a victim of office gossip, suffering from a lack of self-satisfaction and feeling more stressed than the average employee. If you allow yourself to be more human, you are more approachable and easier to relate to.

1. Understand your strengths. No one is great at everything. Discovering your true strengths is critical to focused professional and personal development. The first step towards any career action plan is obtaining a solid understanding of who you are. Take one of the many personality or strength finder tests to understand your strength zones.
2. Prioritize your focus. Throw away the superhero cape and take a deep breath of reality. It’s OK to not be able to do everything well. Understanding your strengths is the first step. The next step is a gut check. Scale back on your expectations and set priorities against your goals. Ask yourself: “What will get me to my goal and what won’t?” In the words of Tim Ferriss, “Being busy is not the same as being productive.”
3. Embrace failure. The road to success is paved with — you guessed it — failure.The two aren’t separable. The difference between those who are successful and those who aren’t is how they respond to failure. We are great at taking one mistake and turning into a lifelong personal brand. Accept the mistake, learn from it and move on.
4. Make connections. You don’t have to chit-chat or gossip with coworkers, but you can be intentional about investing time in others to get to know them. Instead of emailing someone down the hall, go see them instead. Don’t work through lunch – go with a group or another person to lunch. Making connections with others is perhaps one of the most valuable traits we can acquire towards personal and professional fulfillment.
5. Learn when to say no. Resist the urge to take on more. It doesn’t make you look good to others, and it won’t help your stress level. Take a moment to reflect honestly and determine if the new addition to your list (1) aids you in the direction of your goal(s), (2) is feasible, and (3) is in your strength zone. The person who constantly takes on more is typically also the person who gets “dumped on” by others. Respectfully set boundaries and stick to them.

Stepping Towards Fulfillment

It may be shocking to you to learn that being an overachiever will hurt your career. In fact, the chronic overachiever is also destined for chronic disappointment.

I invite you to take a step back and consider a balanced perspective. We have so much being thrown at us at all times. Our society is always “on” thanks to mobile devices, instant information, and constant communication. When you have a personality that is already “on” to begin with, adding unnecessary stressors will only complicate the path to fulfillment. Allow yourself the space to be content and happy!

Erin Urban LSSBB, CPDC and member of the Forbes Coaches Council is a certified professional development coach and culture change expert with over 8 years in mentoring and coaching successful professional transformations. With an extensive background in leading individual, cultural and organizational change initiatives: her mission is to lift others up to defy their limits and exceed their goals.