FOR THE NITPICKY: DON’T BE SO ‘ANAL’ THAT YOU BECOME AN A**…

It’s okay to want things done the way you think to be correct. It’s okay to be particular…to be a perfectionist…it’s okay to be detailed.

It’s okay to provide constructive criticism, but it’s not okay to be petty or hypocritical.

It’s not okay to hold people to a higher standard that you hold yourself.

It’s okay to try to maintain control in your life, but not everyone else’s.

Remember how Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23. Read the entire chapter for context, but check out this verse…

Matthew 23:4 (NKJV)

For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

Jesus rebuked them for being ‘nitpicky’ and overly critical hypocrites. They were obsessive about criticizing others and expressing their expectations while not holding themselves to the same standard.

People are much more willing to hear what we have to say if we aren’t nitpicky over every little detail in regard to them. We can get to the point to where people won’t even listen to us when we are right.

People not only will avoid your good advice. They will avoid you.

People will view you as obnoxious, nasty, and overly opinionated…even those closest to you.

The term for this obsession, derived from Freudian psychoanalysis, is referred to as anal-retentiveness, or simply ‘anal’.