Achieving Perfection by Avoiding Perfection

The title may seem counterintuitive at first, but the concept actually allows you to achieve more of your goals without burning out. You would then ask, why would you not want to aim for perfection if that is what you truly want? We have to understand first that we, for the most part, are human. We only have 24 hours in a day, and have fluctuating energy levels. We are not robots, so expecting constant perfection is not only unrealistic but weighs your mental health down dramatically. 

Because our time and energy is limited, we must choose what to prioritize. While practice may initially yield giant improvements in performance, there are generally diminishing returns as you work to perfect a skill, and, at some point, you will no longer gain a significant benefit from increased repetition. Following this principle, the first time you have taken a test without studying is likely to be your worst performance. If you study for a week and then retake it, then you could make significant leaps in your performance. But if you repeat this process, then there will be fewer improvements to be made, as tests are created in a way that even getting one question wrong eliminates your chance at a perfect score. So, the margin for error becomes razor thin.

 However, for all intents and purposes, you do not need a perfect score on a test! This ties into the concept known as the Pareto Principle, where 80 percent of a desired result is  achieved by 20 percent of the effort. For instance, if you want to become physically healthy, then the Goldilocks zone is about 10 hours a week of exercise in any capacity. This would give you most of the benefit out of exercise, be it aesthetically or physically. You would stand out in the average population as someone who takes their health seriously. However, to become a truly elite athlete, you would have to spend most of your waking hours devoted to your training, by tracking your sleep, logging your improvement, and avoiding external stress just to have even a chance of being at the top. But, in your day to day, you would not really see any difference, and ironically, you would even start to feel less healthy due to your singular obsession with fitness dwarfing any other interests that bring you joy. 

This is also applicable to students. If you are able to get a high, but not perfect, grade in your class with a reasonable amount of studying or less, then you have maximized your achievement to burnout ratio. But if you really want to get a perfect grade, either for external validation or due to being an extreme overachiever, then you might have to double your study hours, and even then, a perfect grade is not guaranteed. Your overall success outcomes will not change, and you will be much more stressed and burn out from studying for a larger amount of time than necessary.  So, now we can finally answer why avoiding perfection actually leads to more success, not just lower burnout. Spending less time studying for a good, not perfect, result frees up much more energy, as well as time, to invest in other interests like socializing, immersing yourself in hobbies, or just getting ahead in another class. Think of ways to prioritize your time and energy while minimizing burnout, putting your wellbeing over flawlessness. This, not an obsession with sanding off every one of your mistakes, is the true key to perfection. 

 

Liu, G., Li, W., & Li, X. (2023). Striking a balance: how long physical activity is ideal for academic success? Based on cognitive and physical fitness mediation analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 14(14).

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1226007 Wong, S. S. H. (2023). Deliberate erring improves far transfer of learning more than errorless elaboration and spotting and correcting others’ errors. Educational Psychology Review, 35(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09739-z