Excellence or Perfection: what is your mindset?

Excellence or Perfection: what is your mindset? I've said it before and I will again: perfectionism is the enemy of a life well lived.  In my experience, perfectionism is a foe. Perfection is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow... First of all, the idea of perfection is preposterous as and in itself, because no matter how good we'll do or be, it will be relatively to standards that have been created arbitrarily and bound to always get pushed further, in a practically never ending frustration. Perfection breeds intolerance. Perfection, and the will to attain it, is a sure way to become extremely self-critical and by the same means critical of others. By leaving no room at all for any variation, any straying or any quirk, it sets the standard so high that it is often a deterrent for many people to even attempt anything, therefore killing their chances to live a vast array of rich experiences. For those of us who stick with its quest, Perfection will bring frustration, obsessive behavior and worst of all: intolerance. Perfection is a source of fear. Even if we were to reach a state of Perfection or feel that we have discovered a form of it, its nature will be sterile... there is no way to go from there, except the fear to lose it.

Excellence on another hand is a beautiful thing because first of all it is a doable goal, and it is real. Unlike Perfection, which is a cold concept, an idealization, a volatile standard, Excellence is something we develop, and practice, and enjoy while we develop it.

Excellence is predictable, it comes with persistence and repetition, without the dread of failure.

Based on practice, it's a way of life that makes our life better instead of making it a living hell.

Excellence is a great way to BE. It's a living state, a satisfactory learning curve.

In a nutshell, when I go for Excellence it motivates me, it makes me take action, it stimulates me because I know that if I stick with practice, I will become better and better, and eventually excellent at what I do. It's a given. Excellence is more companionable. People who excel at what they do are usually confident, successful and easy going people. They love sharing their passion, passing on their acquired knowledge and are a great source of inspiration to others. They treat themselves and others with the understanding that growth is always possible from where we are and that every level of that growth is in itself to be enjoyed. So in a world that seems to become more and more radical, and divided, I'd rather aim for Excellence, rather than Perfection. I believe it is a more loving and surer path to success and to making the world better. What do YOU want to aim for? To your growth and happiness, always. Much love Emmeline