Driven by perfection: cultivating sustainable high performance

Does the drive for excellence often feel like an unrelenting burden? Whether it is re-reading an email for the tenth time, fearing the judgment of others, or equating your self-worth strictly with your latest achievement, the pursuit of perfection often comes at a high professional and personal cost: chronic stress, persistent rumination, and the threat of burnout.

This workshop by Serafine Vanschoenwinkel (Zinder) offers an in-depth exploration of the mechanisms behind perfectionism. Moving beyond surface-level symptoms, we examine the psychological origins of these patterns and provide evidence-based strategies to transform rigid expectations into functional excellence.

Key Learning Objectives

• Deciphering Personal Patterns: Distinguish between "adaptive" striving—which fuels growth—and "maladaptive" perfectionism, which hinders performance and well-being.

• The Stress-Performance Link: Gain insight into how the need for control and the fear of failure drive procrastination and exhaustion.

• Cultivating a Growth Mindset: Transition from harsh self-criticism to a "Free Adult" perspective, utilizing self-compassion as a tool for resilience.

• Strategic Experiments: Acquire practical techniques to test new behaviors, set realistic boundaries, and achieve high-quality results with reduced psychological pressure.

• Move beyond survival and toward sustainable success.

• This session is designed for professionals who wish to maintain their high standards while safeguarding their mental health. Discover how to leverage your dedication without sacrificing your peace of mind.

This workshop is part of the initiative ‘Wellbeing inside-out’. During this wellbeing programme from November 16 until 20 the Doctoral Schools join forces with the HR department & team Vitality. 'Wellbeing inside-out' consists of various sessions focusing on mental, physical and social wellbeing, since these 3 are inextricably linked. The entire extensive offer will be published online soon. 

Learning outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will:

• have gained insight into the underlying mechanisms of perfectionism and how these patterns manifest in your professional and daily lives

• be more aware of the specific impact of perfectionistic tendencies on your mental well-being 

• be able to distinguish between healthy striving for excellence and the counterproductive pitfalls that lead to exhaustion

• know more about the psychological correlation between perfectionism, chronic stress, and the risk of burnout

• be able to implement practical strategies for setting realistic goals, allowing them to achieve high-quality results with increased inner calm and reduced pressure

Competences

An important part of preparing for any further professional step is becoming (more) aware of the competences you have developed and/or want to develop. In the current workshop, the following competences from the UHasselt competency overview are actively dealt with:

Intellectual competences: 

• Personal effectiveness:
  • self-development
  • stress management
  • self confidence
• Intellectual competences:
  • learning ability
• Task-orientedness:
  • quality assurance
  • decisiveness

For whom?

• PhD students & postdocs -  15 places available

When & where?

• November 16, 09:30-12:30: Campus Diepenbeek, room A106
• November 19, 09:30-12:30: Campus Diepenbeek, room 105 

Registration?

• Registration is possible via this link until November 3.
• As places are limited, registering does not automatically imply that you will be able to participate. You will be notified by email after the registration deadline has passed.
• Please cancel your registration at least one week in advance in case you cannot make it (cf. cancellation & no-show policy).

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