# 33. Perfectionism at Work: When Your High Standards Start Sabotaging You Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/workplace-therapy-with-dr-abby-medcalf-7529602/33-perfectionism-at-work-when-your-high-standards-start-sabotaging-you Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/workplace-therapy-with-dr-abby-medcalf-7529602/33-perfectionism-at-work-when-your-high-standards-start-sabotaging-you.md Podcast: [Workplace Therapy with Dr. Abby Medcalf](https://stenobird.com/podcast/workplace-therapy-with-dr-abby-medcalf-7529602) Published: 2026-07-01T23:00:16+00:00 Episode link: https://abbymedcalf.com/perfectionism-at-work Audio file: https://audio4.redcircle.com/episodes/d7563075-7013-43b3-b48b-22ae90ec6594/stream.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/workplace-therapy-with-dr-abby-medcalf-7529602/episodes/33-perfectionism-at-work-when-your-high-standards-start-sabotaging-you Duration seconds: 1537 ## Resource You care deeply about doing good work. You have high standards. You notice details other people miss and you hold yourself to a level of quality that, honestly, has served you well. And somewhere along the way, that same quality that made you good at your job started making your job miserable. Today I want to talk about perfectionism at work, not as a character flaw or a humblebrag, but as a specific nervous system pattern that has a real cost and a real solution. Because the version of perfectionism that's quietly sabotaging you isn't about standards, it's about fear. And those are two very different things. ____________________________ Full blog and show notes: https://abbymedcalf.com/perfectionism-at-work Grab the free Perfectionism Reset Tool, your quick guide to catching the pattern in real time and redirecting it toward the work rather than your worth: https://abbymedcalf.com/perfectionism-reset-tool Join my online community, One Love Collective, on Substack: https://abbymedcalf.com/substack . You'll get... ✨ Early drops + ad-free podcast episodes ✨ Worksheets, journal prompts, downloads, and guided visualizations ✨ Community chats and live Q&A calls with Abby _________ Subscribe to the Love Letter and get my little messages each week! https://abbymedcalf.com/loveletter-opt-in/ 👉 Pick up a copy of my new book, Boundaries Made Easy: Your Roadmap to Connection, Ease and Joy: https://abbymedcalf.com/boundaries 👉 Pick up The Workbook: Boundaries Made Easier to use as a companion to the book or as a standalone masterclass: https://abbymedcalf.com/boundaries-workbook 👉 Buy my #1 bestselling book on Amazon, Be Happily Married: Even If Your Partner Won’t Do a Thing: https://abbymedcalf.com/book ____________________________ Looking for past episodes of the Relationshi… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/workplace-therapy-with-dr-abby-medcalf-7529602/episodes/33-perfectionism-at-work-when-your-high-standards-start-sabotaging-you/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/workplace-therapy-with-dr-abby-medcalf-7529602/33-perfectionism-at-work-when-your-high-standards-start-sabotaging-you.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.