by Athirah Sofea

We’ve all heard of the saying ‘Practice Makes Perfect’, and in a way, it is true. 

The aim for the highest degree of excellence or quality is what ‘Perfection’ is all about, whilst ‘Practice’ is the repeated performance to acquire skill or proficiency. 

Let’s be real: for many of us, the idea of ‘Striving for Perfection’ is something ingrained in us since young. Blame it on the Asian ‘kiasu’ culture, but the notion of perfection can even be addictive for those with a competitive streak.  

Do you consider yourself as a perfectionist? Well, here are some signs that could indicate you may be one: 

• Have very high standards
  Striving for 150% success and putting pressure on oneself to meet these standards.
• Thrive on organization and structure
  Inclination towards maintaining structure and organization, while consistently aiming high standards.
• Very ambitious about your goals
  Exhibiting persistence by continuously striving to improve and refine things.
• Have difficulty getting over mistakes
  While awareness of mistakes can be beneficial for improvement, excessive awareness can lead to stress and anxiety.
• Prone to procrastination
  Fear of starting can result in a cycle of avoidance.

Perfection does have its place, as it gives us focus and clarity toward achieving our best. But an ‘overdrive’ of perfection may impact the motivation behind our work in the long run. If not careful, we risk losing the passion for our work, simply to achieve perfection for its sake.  

So, how can we find the balance? Instead of saying ‘Practice Makes Perfect’, we can embrace the mantra of ‘Practice Makes Progress’ as a more flexible and less critical approach. It encourages advancement and growth, where we actively make improvements to deliver better quality work than before.  

With this mindset, we can explore and enjoy the process of ‘practice’ as we work towards our desired goal. Here are 5 benefits of embracing ‘Practice Make Progress’ over perfection: 

• It helps you identify and act on the small steps that help you progress.
  Recognising the incremental steps and wins help to boost your confidence and build assurance in your abilities to achieve more.
• It brings an understanding of what works and what doesn’t.
  It is important to allow for experimentation and creativity in our daily work. Instead of beating yourself up when something doesn’t turn out right, a ‘progress’ mindset sees it as an opportunity to do things better.
• It sharpens your skill level.
  Practice promotes fluency and hones your craft. You eventually find more efficient ways of doing things that lead you one step closer to your goal.
• It creates new habits.
  A habit is essentially an action, usually small, that you do regularly – so don’t despise the small steps discussed above. When a practice becomes habit, it becomes a part of your routine and helps you overcome your fears.
• It builds confidence.
  Confidence is built when you do those little acts consistently and start to achieve small success. When you see progress through your practice, your confidence naturally grows.

Remember, perfection is the act of perfecting something; and the pathway to perfection lies in practice and progress.  

Invest daily in sharpening your skills, honing your craft and being an expert in your field of practice. You may just find that the journey is far more meaningful when you embrace the act of perfecting instead of simply pursuing the ‘perfect’ destination.