Progress over perfection

Too often we get caught up trying to be perfect. We dislike errors. We despise faults. We want to perform flawlessly without committing any mistakes.

While we may desire perfection, it doesn’t help us to improve. Instead of using it to get better, we try to avoid imperfection. Want to avoid any mistake so we avoid challenging situations.

Those challenging situations are necessary if we want to expand our abilities. We have to step outside of our comfort zone. Yet perfectionists will avoid stretching beyond the range they have already perfected.

This leaves us sticking with what we know well. We don’t learn anything new because to be a novice means we won’t be perfect.

This is a lifelong lesson for me. I have perfectionist tendencies. Those often get in the way of me taking on new risks. Without being willing to take on new risks, it leaves me redoing what I already do well. It doesn’t allow me to move into the unknown, where there is the chance that I will stumble.

Because of this, I learned that I have to be aware of my perfectionist tendencies. I have to be willing to jump into the unknown. I have to be willing to make mistakes.

The best way I have learned to combat the perfection-craving mindset, is to focus on progress. Progress means we are moving forward. We are growing. We are improving. We are getting better and gaining the benefits of mastering something new.

It allows us to be imperfect. It wants to move forward at a slow pace. It values consistency over randomness. Focusing on progress is anti-perfection mindset.

When we want to make progress, we admit and accept that we aren’t perfect. There is a saying that perfect is the enemy of good. It means that our attempt at perfection will restrain us. It will keep us from growing. It will stop us from reaching our true potential and cause us to remain stuck.

The other day I was reminded of this lesson. I was coaching 5-year old tee ball players. We played a few games and seemed to keep getting better. We started out with players losing focus. They couldn’t seem to stay connected to the game. This is all too common with players at this age.

But after a few reminders, they seemed to get better. It reminded me that we aren’t striving for perfection. We are working on making progress. The players were getting better each game. We could have gotten frustrated by the lack of focus in the beginning. Instead, we gently nudged their attention back to the game.

It would have left us frustrated if perfection was the goal. At that age, perfection is ridiculous. We shouldn’t worry about anything other than having fun and keeping them as focused as possible.

I know many people that claim they want to play a musical instrument, try a new sport, or take up some new type of artistic endeavor. But they are so afraid to make mistakes that they never try. They never take the first step because they know it will be difficult and awkward. But that first awkward step is necessary.

If you find yourself avoiding a new challenge because it will be difficult, allow yourself to lose the perfectionist mindset. Instead, opt for the alternative. Work to make progress. Strive to simply get better over time. Understand mistakes and errors are part of the learning process. Then move forward with the confidence that each day can become better than the last.