Buying Perfection To Sell Yourself Short

The book I wrote has a typo. A bad one.

I didn’t notice it until maybe a week ago.

Upon seeing it, I was floored. I mean, all the edits I’d done, and it was there glaring at me, like a fresh zit between my eyes.

Now, I can’t un-see it.

But you know what?

It’s fine. There are probably more.

Perfection Isn’t My Goal

While I do strive for great, there is a tendency to get this confused with perfection. But to me, great means getting better, gradually.

Not overnight.

Not without mistakes.

But persistent, intentional steps to improve and rise above what’s readily in reach.

Now, many of us become stifled on the way to our goals because we put unrealistic expectations on ourselves. We haven’t used the right scope. Yes, aspire all you want to become the next Drake (or better). But don’t expect to be at his level (anytime soon) if you’ve never performed live or recorded music or written a song.

Dream as crazy as you can. But improve daily with scalable steps.

Our Culture Sells Us Perfection

We continually buy perfection at every corner it’s sold. Commercials, the Internet, and various mass media delude us into believing that things are perfect somewhere. Or that some lucky soul has struck gold and cashed in on the perfect life.

We know that no time in our life has ever been perfect. Ever. Yet, we romanticize. We buy into this lie again and again.

Buying Into Perfection Sells Yourself Short

You’ll never really know what you can do, if you’re constantly trying to make sure everything goes as perfect as possible. How can you truly appreciate your talent and work if you’re measuring yourself to an impossible standard?

Many of us know (or should know) perfection is an impossible feat. Yet, we can’t shake that need for life to be mistake-free and easy for us.

Sure, there will be things that appear to be easy that come along. But for the most part, everything will take work. Somehow, we still get drawn into thoughts of living on cruise control.

I couldn’t imagine waiting to write a book until I was the perfect writer with the perfect sentences.

There will always be rough edges to smooth out. There will always be room to improve.

Life is unperfectly perfect, and so are we.

– Brandon

Originally published at brandonbkeith.com on June 24, 2015.