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Clever, or what? -

Hark your mind back to your elementary school days and the brainy kids in the class. Weren't they always called the "teacher's pet" for being so clever? While some youngsters undoubtedly demonstrate an advanced intelligence in the classroom, there are others who appear to perform above and beyond the standards expected of their age level. This behavior can indicate an overachieving personality.

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Running in the family -

While there is no established definition of an "overachiever," students who perform better than their peers usually come from a long line of other overachievers.

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Strict upbringing -

Strict, career-orientated parents possessed of the belief that hard work and diligence can engineer the attitude, determination, and dedication toward one's job can leave a lasting impression on a young child.

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In their parents' eyes -

Overachievers will often have been shaped and molded by parents, themselves having grown up constantly battling the desire to avoid negative judgment.

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Self-neglect -

This need to succeed evolves into an overdeveloped work ethic. And that brings with it the danger of self-neglect as the aspiration to accomplish overrides personal needs.

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Ignoring personal needs -

While working endlessly to ensure that their performance is far better than anyone else's, an overachiever is likely to skip breakfast or lunch, and even bathroom breaks. Their own appearance and personal hygiene may also suffer.

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Impact on relationships -

An overachiever is in danger of letting their anxiety and crippling fear of failure impact their relationships. Friendships may falter, marriages can fail.

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Overbearing personality -

In leadership roles, overachievers can be perceived as overly harsh and dictatorial. Reaching the outcome is all that matters to these individuals. They judge themselves by this standard and they also believe that others judge them in the same way.

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Distorted view -

These distorted expectations of themselves and others mean overachievers are far more focused on avoiding failure than they are at achieving a good outcome. When they do reach a goal, an overachiever is more likely to experience feelings of relief at having not tripped and stumbled along the way.

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Lazy and unambitious? -

Poor outcomes can be devastating to an overachiever. Concerned so much with being perfect, their distorted mindset will often extend to judging a normal Monday to Friday 9 to 5 as a lazy and unambitious schedule.

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Taking criticism -

Another hallmark trait of an overachiever is a feeling of self-doubt about one's own competence or ability. Conversely, high standards are the personal calling card of this personality. Overachievers therefore have a tendency to berate themselves for failing to live up to their own excessively high expectations.

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Disproportionate expectations -

The other side of the coin, however, is that an overachiever will level these same disproportionate expectations at others. This can cause considerable discord in the workplace.

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Heightened tension -

Similarly, self-criticism and overt censure of others can create lots of tension in close relationships. As previously indicated, marriages have been known to splinter under such circumstances.

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Narrow margins -

Overachievers tend to compartmentalize, to narrow down the list of goals they seek to achieve—and to then excel in all those objectives. But it doesn't always work like this.

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Personal development -

Narrowing down by overachievers is counterproductive because the subsequent goal is to try and beat their latest feat or accomplishment. It's another common trait of overachievers—to constantly try to justify, improve, and develop themselves, but rarely being satisfied with what they've done. 

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Racing against time -

The clock is no friend of an overachiever. They are always racing against the hour—the minute, even—in a bid to accomplish as much as possible in the least amount of time.

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More hours in the day -

Indeed, if you tend to overwork and rarely take a break, you are probably an overachiever. Of course, such behavior patterns may happen from time to time, especially if you're up against a deadline. But if relaxation is off-putting to you, it's time to revaluate your work-life balance.

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Focused on the job -

With overachievers, work is very much about focusing on outcomes rather than the process. For most people, working towards a goal is a slow process, with rewards inherent in undertaking the task in the first place. And, importantly, failure is an acceptable part of the exercise. An overachiever, however, can easily get lost in the process through procrastination, worry, and self-criticism. In fact, the whole deal is too painful and arduous to contemplate. This is the fundamental difference between high achievement and overachievement.

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Product over process -

Put more simply, whereas many people do something for the sheer pleasure of it and might approach a task in stages, the overachiever is purely outcome-oriented.

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Guilt complex -

This inclination to get right to the point can induce a feeling of guilt in the overachiever, who simply finds it impossible to switch off, even on weekends.

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No days off -

In fact, many overachievers express a sense of emptiness and loss of direction when not working. A day off becomes an excuse to fill the time with menial tasks, just to keep busy.

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Failure-phobic -

If there's one mental trait that's highly correlated with being an overachiever, it's anxiety. They are failure-phobic. A dread of what the future holds if they don't make the grade leaves many in a perpetual flux.

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Mistake at work -

In their eyes, a mistake at work is confirmation of an inability to achieve perfection. Mistakes, oversights, and suchlike are part of the everyday learning curve. But for the overachiever, a hiccup, no matter how minor, is seen as a negative downgrade. Maintaining a perfectionist philosophy like this can take a toll on physical and mental well-being.

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Skill levels -

An odd positive in overachieving is that you can develop a few highly-refined in-demand skills. But by doing so, it rarely encourages the development of new and interesting things, an overachiever typically fearful of failing in anything set outside their comfort zone.

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Eager to please -

A common trait in overachievers is their eagerness to please. From an early age, they've realized that by currying favor within their peer group it's easier to secure love and approval from others.

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Value and worth -

The problem with adopting this eager-to-please attitude at a young age is that as they mature, overachievers remain ignorant of how trial and error and the odd mistake in life can have value and worth over and above their accomplishments.

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Burnout -

Taking risks to achieve your goals, experiencing regular outbursts of anger due to stress and anxiety, suffering emotional overload, and never feeling satisfied are the overachiever's lot. It's also called burnout. Time to take a step back.

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Take a step back -

If you feel that you're an overachiever, take a step back and ask yourself if the goal you're pursuing is really worth the strife. More pertinently, is it worth risking your physical and mental health? Start giving yourself a break, and ponder this question: does this goal have a realistic outcome?

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Connect with others -

Reach out to others. Reconnect with people and devote more time to the ones you love. That's truly the greatest achievement of all.

Sources: (Education.com) (Psychology Today) (Integrated Wellness)

See also: Why does out social circle decrease with age?

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