The other evening I was watching a show on TV, and one of the characters was explaining his drive to achieve perfection in everything that he did. This started me thinking about the idea of perfection, and if striving for it as the end-goal for things that we do is actually the proper way of pursuing those things.
What exactly is perfection? According to Merriam-Webster, perfection is: “the quality or state of being perfect; freedom from fault or defect; the quality or state of being saintly; an exemplification of supreme excellence; an unsurpassable degree of accuracy or excellence”. In layman’s terms, once perfection has been achieved, that “thing” can not be improved upon or made better because it is “perfect” and there is nothing better.
Now for some linguistic gymnastics to ponder… when we perform tasks, or pursue the goals we set for our selves, should we really be striving for perfection? Or instead should we be attempting to master them?
Consider someone who is an artist or tradesman. When an artist creates an incredible work of art, it is referred to as a masterpiece… not a perfection-piece, thus the artist is a master of their skill. A tradesman who reaches a certain level of skill and competency is considered a Master Tradesman.
Think of our own hobbies we pursue and enjoy. If we strive for perfection and then determine we’ve achieved it, then theoretically we can never improve from that point. And when we decide we’ve reached perfection, do we then become bored with that hobby because we’re now at a dead-end and can never go beyond that level? Part of human nature is to set goals and pursue activities that challenge us and allow us to improve and grow, and get better at those things… constantly looking for ways to do things better, more efficient, faster. If that wasn’t the case, people would still be driving Ford Model-T cars, and we’d still be using the 1985 version of Microsoft Windows.
Instead of perfection, we should strive for mastery in the things we do. Approaching tasks and goals from this perspective allows us to continually challenge ourselves and look for ways to improve upon what we have already achieved and perform future tasks better.
I don’t ever want to perfect anything I do. I want to keep looking for ways to do better, find opportunities to improve and continue to grow and expand my knowledge and understanding. If I don’t, I will gradually deteriorate from the inside…