For that perfect moment

Recognising, understanding and participating in the pursuit of perfectionism will help us become better at what we do

I was once told I’m a perfectionist. For a few moments, I thought it was a lovely endorsement of the way I approached various aspects of life. But I was quickly corrected: “That’s not a compliment, you know.”

It took me a while to come to terms with that. Perhaps seeking perfectionism was a weakness, after all. There was (and is) a lot of literature and business research endorsing that view: Perfection is a myth; perfectionists tend to slow down processes; they are intolerant of failure and, therefore, more prone to stress; and so on. Reading about all these confident conclusions, it was easy to agree — even if only reluctantly — that striving for perfection was, indeed, futile.

However, is seeking perfection as illusory or frustrating as chasing a mirage? And even if so, is it such a bad thing? Yes, in life, we may end up becoming disillusioned or repeatedly disappointed, because we may not live up to our own extraordinary and unjustified expectations. We may forget we are human. In my view, the word, “human” is reasonably synonymous with “imperfect”.