Glimmerick

The fallacy of perfection: “believing that a worthwhile communicator should be able to handle every situation with complete confidence and skill.” This was taken from the Looking Out, Looking In textbook.  The idea here is that believing that one should be a perfect communicator delusional. Nobody is perfect, yet many strive to be. It’s OK to aim for perfection, certainly one doesn’t want to aim for disaster. The problem is that while being caught up in the idea of perfection, we can run into some trouble. Lies will start to creep up behind you:

1. Admitting mistakes will be a sign of weakness.
2. Being uncertain proves you are a defect.
3. People will think less of me if I don’t get this right.

These types of ideas can crop up from many areas of life.  “I have to ace this class or my parents will think I am not good enough.” “I have to do the best job on this job report, otherwise my boss will think less of me.”  “I have to be the best communicator, otherwise I will be a loser.” The problems of having this mindset are numerous. First off, it takes a great deal of time and energy to attempt perfection, and most likely, you will just feel worn out and tired.  When trying to measure up to an unattainable goal, it diminishes your self-esteem! The key to exposing this lie is to come to terms with who you are, and who everybody else is!

• Everybody else has had mistakes in their life; nothing to be ashamed of
• Nobody is perfect, no matter how hard they try act like it
• You aren’t always going to understand events in life
• Just like others, you have strengths and weaknesses!
• People who often point out the short comings of others frequently have low self-esteem

It is OK to ask for help in life, in fact it is encouraged!  Why go through everything that others have already done?  Additionally, who likes a know-it-all anyways? Even if you did know everything, chances are people still wouldn’t be happy with you. Remember that guy in physics who aced all the tests, and how even if he didn’t gloat about it, you still harbored a little resentment about it?  OK, maybe that was just me, but I have a hunch others felt this way as well. At least I was being honest. Just be comfortable with who you are, and if you are continually trying to improve an aspect of your life, who can fault you?

Who is more admirable? The natural athlete who has a lousy work ethic, shirks off practice, and shows up and wins? Or the less talented athlete who shows up every day for practice, works hard, yet never gets above 3rd?

The Bottom Line: “The only man who makes no mistakes is the man who never does anything. Do not be afraid to make mistakes providing you do not make the same one twice.” ~Theodore Roosevelt

This entry was posted on Friday, July 11th, 2008 at 3:59 pm and is filed under Books, Self-Help. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.