Glad to see another fan of Alain de Botton. Check out his talk on the joys of pessimism. It's liberating.
Perfectionism is a curse that has followed me all my life – without making me perfect, so what's the point? Imperfect is our only option; all perfectionism does is make us miserable about our only option. It never made anyone better. Ever.
It's following almost everybody. And it's absolutely crazy. And it's not like we're turning this planet into paradise with our perfectionist standards. I think that maybe perfectionism is a tool from the repertoire of the prison of "can" (Burnout Society reference) designed to keep you doing your job to the exclusion of everything else (since you have time to be perfect (theoretically, but humans can only concentrate for about 2-3 hours a day)) and then any hobbies that you might want to pursue, you don't have the time to get perfect at them and good enough is out of the question :D
I really agree with this thesis. I have been a polymath all my life. I have never felt compelled to be the expert, rather to just satisfy my interest and curiosity. Once I feel I have an adequate mastery of a sport or discipline, I am ready to move on. It has served me well. Being a B tennis or racketball player was good enough. And I am a happy slow jogger.
Glad to see another fan of Alain de Botton. Check out his talk on the joys of pessimism. It's liberating.
Perfectionism is a curse that has followed me all my life – without making me perfect, so what's the point? Imperfect is our only option; all perfectionism does is make us miserable about our only option. It never made anyone better. Ever.
It's following almost everybody. And it's absolutely crazy. And it's not like we're turning this planet into paradise with our perfectionist standards. I think that maybe perfectionism is a tool from the repertoire of the prison of "can" (Burnout Society reference) designed to keep you doing your job to the exclusion of everything else (since you have time to be perfect (theoretically, but humans can only concentrate for about 2-3 hours a day)) and then any hobbies that you might want to pursue, you don't have the time to get perfect at them and good enough is out of the question :D
I really agree with this thesis. I have been a polymath all my life. I have never felt compelled to be the expert, rather to just satisfy my interest and curiosity. Once I feel I have an adequate mastery of a sport or discipline, I am ready to move on. It has served me well. Being a B tennis or racketball player was good enough. And I am a happy slow jogger.
Hahaha, yes. Slow jogging is definitely one of those "good enough" activities that get sneered at by the perfectionist outlook.
Nice to see you’re using actual art with your posts, most enjoyable.