Brian Johnson argues that maintaining high standards is crucial for individual and relational flourishing. He distinguishes two forms of perfectionism: unhealthy (believing one can attain total perfection) versus healthy (accepting reality's constraints while keeping high standards), and claims the latter supports thriving while the former leads to despair and impaired flourishing.
Having high standards is very important to flourish, whether it's an individual or relationship. You want to know what relationships will endure. It's those with high standards. So if you want to achieve your potential, you need to have high standards. There are two forms of perfectionism, literally, and the scientists use the word perfectionist in two different contexts. One is unhealthy and the other is healthy. The unhealthy perfectionist is the one who struggles with all the things we don't want to struggle with, whereas the healthy perfectionist thrives. What's the difference between the two? The difference between the two is the unhealthy perfectionist actually thinks they can attain all of their high goals, whereas the healthy perfectionist embraces the constraints of reality. They know they're never going to be perfect, yet they don't give up the high standards because that's also a pathway to despair and to a lack of flourishing and meaning.
