How does having high expectation benefits me?

There was a question asked to me, how does perfectionism benefit me? In other word, what do I gain from my efforts to become perfectionist?

There are several possible answers. One is that by striving towards perfection, I can feel good about myself. There is a low self-esteem in me that craves for the achievements that help me to feel better. But how do I define as achievements? Is it defined as being better than others?

Second is that perfectionism often leads to procrastinate. Procrastinate makes us do last minute stuffs which are useful in two ways. In Tim Urban’s words, it is useful because it wakes up the panic monster who can beat the instant gratification monkey within us. Another use I think is to give myself excuse if I am not doing well as I want because of the limited time I have. So my real performance becomes unknown as compared to if I have prepared for a long time.

But finding answers are not the main goal. The main goal is to find a healthier alternative that can yield us the same benefits. That is because perfectionistic tendency along with procrastination are costly. I need to acknowledge the benefits that they bring and at the same time realize how destructive they are in the long run.

For example, high expectation realized in perfection will probably make us more needed, but at the same time it means more work which can steal happiness from us.

So I need to keep asking why do I want to have high expectations. What are the goals behind it? Is there any healthier alternative?