Overcoming perfectionism

“Perfection consists not in doing extraordinary things, but in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well,” says Marie Angelique.

To host a party, preparations need to be perfect. Beginning with deciding the number of guests, the menu, and decorations, each minute detail requires personal attention. To make any event a success, we go that extra mile towards good planning and execution with time precision. 

Just as every work requires care and attention to the smallest elements, the following lines, quoted from the movie ‘The Outfit’ speak about Leonard, the soft-spoken tailor determined to achieve excellence through each piece of his craft. He explains his work in the following words...

To the naked eye, a suit appears to consist of two parts, a jacket and trousers. But those two seemingly solid parts are composed of four different fabrics. Cotton, silk, mohair, and wool. And those four fabrics are cut into thirty-eight separate pieces. The process of sizing, forming and conjoining those pieces requires no fewer than two hundred and twenty-eight steps.

The first move towards accomplishing any task begins with setting a goal. After the objective is determined, using the best tools and with constant improvement, we aim to get closer to achieving it.  The master craftsman with his crisp cuts continues... 

It’s at the finishing that you must come to terms with the idea that perfection is a necessary goal, precisely because it is unattainable. If you don’t aim for perfection, you cannot make anything great.

Even after hosting a successful gathering, the urge to tweak our shortcomings is always there. We realize that there’s always some room for improvement and always a next time to better ourselves. Finally, this extremely dedicated protagonist himself concludes...“At the finish, you must reconcile yourself to failure. It’s not perfect. You have to make peace with that. How? Well, you sit at your board, you layout your tools and you start again.”

 In Nia Peeples’ words...”Life is a moving breathing thing. We have to be willing to constantly evolve. Perfection is constant transformation.” Striving to do our best while making progress is the closest to perfection that one can achieve.  David burns says, “Aim for success, not for perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life. Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism.”