We have all been into school life long enough to know that group works are common in the student life. In a group, a leader is assigned and members are given tasks—each task contributing to the end product, say, a group report. When the time of passing the report draws near, some members naturally come together and examine their work. They look for things that could be improved and do try to improve them. Such people are, more often than not, labeled ‘perfectionists.’ And I am one of them. I usually try to improve on things, especially those on which I know I am capable to improve. For this reason, I’ve been often accused of being a perfectionist.
Perfectionist—this single word alone says it all: A perfectionist is one who wants everything to be perfect. A dictionary defines it this way: “A propensity for being displeased with anything that is not perfect…” Truth be told, I am no perfectionist. I am not one who wants everything to be perfect. I am not one who is displeased with anything that is not perfect. I nod in agreement to the oft-quoted saying, “nobody is perfect.” Indeed, no one is. Perfection we can never attain; that we attain it in this life is impossible.
If we can never attain perfection, then why try so hard being perfect? Why do everything right? Why review through the night for an examination? Why study hard and aim for a seemingly impossible 100% grade in our subjects? Are all these efforts of perfection worthless? I believe not.
Not if we consider another concept: excellence. I like how John W. Garner described excellence. He said, “Excellence is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.” Excellence is never equal to perfection. Excellence is you giving your all in doing something. It ends not in perfection, but in a level in which you can proudly say, “This is all I am able to give.” It is trying to do everything right. It is reviewing through the night to try perfecting the examination. It is studying at your very best to try to achieve that seemingly unattainable 100% grade.
I quote Harriet Beryl Braiker: “Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing.”
You review in and do your best in the exam. You might fail to get the perfect score, but because you were striving for excellence and not perfection, you are motivated. You realize that when you give it your all, you get high scores. You study hard and aim to achieve that 100% grade. You might fail in achieving 100%, but because you were striving for excellence and not perfection, you are motivated. You realize that when you give it your all, you can achieve high grades. I would like to end by sharing what my father once said regarding excellence. He said, “When striving for excellence, ‘ok na yan’ is never ok.”
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