At its core, perfectionism is extremely personal, often aiming to touch one’s essence, whether one’s own or another’s. Since no achievement can ever really “prove” who you are, we keep upping the ante, hoping the next one will. How the Search for Essence Leads to Cognitive BiasesHowever, the preoccupation with discovering another’s essence fails us in several ways. And what if they can’t prove how much they care for and love you? This means you can’t spend your entire life trying to concretely prove that someone is essentially good and trustworthy.