Do you know the joke?
Tourist in NYC to man on the street: How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
Man on the street: Practice, dude, practice.
All my life I’ve tried to be perfect. The perfect daughter. The perfect mother. The perfect student. The perfect employee. Needless to say, none of these efforts has been entirely successful, and the pursuit of perfection stressed me out.
Now I’m self-employed as a freelance marketing writer, and the saying “practice makes perfect” has been on my mind. It’s one of our fundamental beliefs: anyone can do anything if they just work at it hard enough. In fact, I started this blog as a way to practice my writing. (Yes, I thought I could become the perfect writer.)
The trouble is there are a few holes in this “Practice makes perfect” belief. While repetition of an action will improve performance in some cases, talent, enjoyment and motivation have more to do with achievement.
Turns out the joke should go:
Tourist in NYC to man on the street: How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
Man on the street: Talent, dude, talent.
After reading and thinking, here’s what I’ve figured out:
So I’m working on being OK with “good enough” and forgetting “perfect.” How about you?
Tourist in NYC to man on the street: How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
Man on the street: Practice, dude, practice.
All my life I’ve tried to be perfect. The perfect daughter. The perfect mother. The perfect student. The perfect employee. Needless to say, none of these efforts has been entirely successful, and the pursuit of perfection stressed me out.
Now I’m self-employed as a freelance marketing writer, and the saying “practice makes perfect” has been on my mind. It’s one of our fundamental beliefs: anyone can do anything if they just work at it hard enough. In fact, I started this blog as a way to practice my writing. (Yes, I thought I could become the perfect writer.)
The trouble is there are a few holes in this “Practice makes perfect” belief. While repetition of an action will improve performance in some cases, talent, enjoyment and motivation have more to do with achievement.
Turns out the joke should go:
Tourist in NYC to man on the street: How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
Man on the street: Talent, dude, talent.
After reading and thinking, here’s what I’ve figured out:
- Perfection is in the eye of the beholder. When I send a piece of writing off to a client, I’ve worked hard and agonized over every word. It’s perfect in my mind. Then my client sends the piece back and tells me all the things that need to be changed to make it acceptable. What was perfect to me wasn’t perfect to him or her.
- Perfect is an unattainable goal. Perfection is an absolute – a black or white thing. The real world is made up of permutations of gray. I’m a happier person when I’m not pursuing the unattainable.
- “Good enough” can be good enough. The pursuit of perfection can make me spin my wheels and get nothing done. It feels good to do something. Plus when I take action I get a reaction that teaches me and moves me forward.
So I’m working on being OK with “good enough” and forgetting “perfect.” How about you?
RSS Feed
