The curse of perfection

This is day 20 of an experiment to share a (hopefully) thought-provoking idea every day in October. By the time I’ve finished committing today’s essay to paper, uploaded it into my website, and shared it across all the socials, it’ll be about 11pm. Today was an action-packed day, and I’m barely going to get this done in time.

Which means it’s probably not going to be the perfect essay. It might have some basic grammatical errors. It might not convey the point I’m trying to share with perfect clarity. I’m sure when I re-read it tomorrow, I’ll find ways it could have been better.

But funnily enough, that’s the point.

I have long been in a battle with my perfectionist tendencies. Perfectionism sounds, on the face of things, to be a virtue. A perfectionist demands the best of themselves… or so it seems in the imagination.

In practice, the perfectionist has crafted themselves an excuse that allows them to avoid doing literally anything. True perfection is an asymptote, unattainable no matter how much effort is invested. A perfectionist, therefore, can never actually achieve their stated goals, and if one knows before one even begins that success is impossible, one’s natural reaction might simply be... not to bother at all.

Guilty, your honour... and you?

I know so many people who suffer a similar affliction. Smart, creative, incredible people who cut themselves off at the knees with this simple (and simply infuriating) mental block.

Perfection isn’t the goal, progress is.

Photo by Elmarie van Rooyen on Unsplash