In the last blog, I showed how the Inner Critic is in the Self-esteem dimension of the Pattern System. Each of the seven types of Inner Critics also resides in a dimension of the Pattern System. Let’s look at the Perfectionist:

The two polarized protectors are the Perfectionist and the Sloppy Part, which just does tasks in a cavalier way, not caring about how well they are done or the consequences. The healthy version of the Perfectionist is the Inner Mentor who helps you to do things in an excellent way without judgment or extremes. It is caring and supportive and knows when something is good enough. The healthy version of the Sloppy Part is the Inner Champion who supports you working in an easy flowing way without sacrificing quality. And it also supports your feeling good about yourself.

As before, the Inner Champion and Inner Mentor work together. Your goal is to transform your Perfectionist into the Inner Mentor with the help of the Inner Champion.

However, this dimension is different in one way from the Self-esteem dimension we discussed yesterday. People are rarely in conflict about being sloppy or perfectionistic. Most people who aren’t healthy in this dimension go one way or the other. They are either perfectionistic or they are sloppy; they are rarely polarized about this inside themselves. The polarization shows up between people. Frequently you will see someone who is a perfectionist judging someone who is sloppy, or vice versa. It is a major source of interpersonal conflict for some people. Rather than internal polarization, this dimension tends to produce interpersonal polarization.