Instead of Waiting for Godot, Some Wait for Perfection
A perfectionist believes some undefined achievement will prove their worth.
Updated December 14, 2025 | Reviewed by Lybi Ma
Some people are terrified of making mistakes. They live in a fantasy , believing that enough effort and insight can permanently submerge and shackle all of their fears. They become preoccupied with ideas like “healing” and “root causes,’ believing they’re able, at least in theory, to root out depression , anxiety , their poor self-image , and imposter phenomenon—also known as imposter syndrome , though it is not a syndrome, nor is it listed in the DSM . However, this utopian fantasy misses an important perspective: feeling like an imposter isn’t necessarily bad or even debilitating. It isn’t so much the phenomenon itself that’s problematic; it’s how we respond to it.
Imposterism can be defined as the persistent and nagging feeling that one isn’t the person they’re perceived to be when that perception is considered by them to be overly positive. In response to being misperceived, they may utilize perfectionism , heavily curating their lives to mask their imagined flaws. The perfectionist lives with a dual mindset: on the one hand, they secretly harbor the near certainty they’re irredeemably flawed; and, on the other, hope to hide their flaws long enough to, somehow, indirectly, but not exactly passively, prove to themselves they’re wrong. They obsessively achieve, hoping the next success (or, rather, the perfect achievement) will finally negate their extremely poor sense of self. This sort of thinking falls into the domain of magical thinking , although on the less severe side of the dimension, as there’s no reasonable understanding of how or why something can debunk them; the sense is, “I’ll know it when I see it.”
Imposter phenomenon can be perceived as the foundation of meaning in an apparent void, resembling the plot of Samuel Beckett’s famous play, Waiting for Godot . The story revolves around two drifters who spend their time waiting for a figure to give them meaning, while creating meaning in the waiting, even though it appears as though they’re wasting time. The sense is that this lower form of suffering will be made meaningful at the arrival of true purpose. Both characters put their life on hold until they resolve their meaning or, rather, someone else does it for them. This story might perfectly (no pun intended) represent imposterism and accompanying perfectionism, which, ultimately, is a waiting game. But, contrary to the appearance of the men in Waiting for Godot , the reverse is true with perfectionists: While appearing to be successful, they’re actually wasting time, no different from the characters of the play, arguably engaged in idle chatter.
In the end, nothing happens There’s no resolution and no closure. And the audience is forced to consider how much of their own lives were wasted, based on decisions that seemed important only because they themselves were based on a magical sort of hope. The existential psychotherapist Irvin Yalom implored his patients, in an effort to aid their grief , to give up hope for a better past, and can, in turn, implore the purported imposter to give up hope for a markedly better future. If the play were to continue, we may have discovered Vladimir and Estragon reassessing whatever bit of meaning they gave to their lives, wondering again whether to double down on their choices or move on. In this vein, after disillusionment, the perfectionist is tasked with reconsidering how much of their life they should continue to devote to a hitherto futile pursuit.
In treatment, a therapist may ask: “What sort of achievement proves you aren’t an imposter?” “How can it do that?” “Is there one that makes you immune to both external and internal criticism?” “Is there one that makes you like yourself?” “Is there one no one can take away from you?” The perfectionist may come to terms with the mystical quality assigned to one or another corporeal reward, acknowledging how much of their mind informs its value and how easily it can, and often does, remove it. In contrast to Waiting for Godot , the more uplifting Disney film, Cool Runnings , incorporates a profound axiom from John Candy in a scene where he tells the protagonist that if one doesn’t feel they’re enough without a gold medal, they’ll never feel like they are with one. Implied is another axiom: If you don’t believe you deserve recognition before receiving it, it can’t persuade you that you do afterward.
Returning to the play, there’s a pivotal moment where Estragon says, “We always find something, eh Didi, to give us the impression we exist?” Vladimir responds, “Yes, yes, we're magicians.” We’re the magicians. We can decide how to live and what to live for; we can stop waiting for the world to make us believe we're special, as a child would wait in earnest for a favorite parent’s approval. To come to terms with feeling like an imposter, one has to accept how much they need others, but in a limited manner, meaning without expecting anything or anyone to fully heal them. On the one hand, imposter phenomenon is humbling, making us more dedicated and thoughtful; on the other hand, we can spiral out of control if it isn’t tamed by support, in the way excessive shame is tamed with realistic pride. The individual struggling with imposterism has to accept the reality that it serves the broader community by contributing to the above-noted pro-social qualities, and, in turn, however, the community is somewhat indebted to them. It isn’t fair and quite magical to think that one has to be both perfect and self-sufficient.
But, true meaning is discovered in our provisions to the world and those granted to us, which means that we have to find a way, at least temporarily, to trust praise and aid. It means that anything else is the stuff of fairy tales, which, in my opinion, usually fail to compare to the beauty of seeing one overcome their fears and insecurities, maybe temporarily but always realistically. What can be more magical?
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Leon Garber is a licensed mental health counselor in Brooklyn, NY. He specializes in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder, perfectionism, and existential issues.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.