“Strive for progress, not perfection.” That statement, is a quote from somebody sometime, is really a releasing statement. I remember the first time I heard a form of it from my instructor. I had pulled him aside after class and was lamenting my ability to do the kata perfectly. He listened and then uttered the phrase, “Strive for progress, not perfection.” And he added, “Or quit because you aren’t having any fun.” Wow – lighten-up with yourself, or move on. Not what I expected to hear, not remotely, not even in the same universe. However he broke me out of a place in my life, as a young man, that was sorely needed. It was a midwest koan, decidedly designed to break me out of my thinking pattern. Oh, it didn’t happen over night, it took time to set in, but it worked. So I pass it on to you strive for progress, not perfection, be gentle with yourself – Lord knows the world won’t be.
Perfection, the killer of progress.
I read an interesting book on internal arts once, I remember the what the guy said mostly because I figured it applies to many things.
Basically he said that if you seek ‘perfection’ in what you do physically, your mind is in a constant battle with your body because it is trying to force results that are not possible, i.e. perfect technique. It turns into a loop of always being frustrated with what your body cannot do, and your view of what is going on is colored entirely by the negative – stuff that is “not perfect”.
Perfection is a result of “sportification” in my view … would you agree?