May 16

Is It Possible To Be Perfect?

Today I emailed the latest Extra Oomph! newsletter to clients. I wrote it in just half an hour this morning, before my first meeting of the day. Half an hour is half the time it usually takes me. Plus the article is on an important subject, how to create lasting relationships via our sales efforts. Overall, I was happy for the content and the efficiency with which it was produced.

Not long after, I got an email from a client pointing out two errors. One was a missing word and the second was the misinterpretation of the creative use of an exclamation point. To me, there was one error, to him, two.

The perplexing thing is, I read and reread the newsletter at least four times before hitting send. Four times and still there was an error in it!

Earlier today I sent an email to the director of a masters program pointing out two spelling errors in one of his emails. I find spelling errors particularly disappointing considering that pushing a single button catches a lot of them - and these were the sort that would have been caught.

The director told me he inadvertently sent the draft version. When we meet tomorrow I’ll tell him I understand how errors happen; I proofed my Extra Oomph! issue four times! I expect we’ll both laugh.

All this got me to thinking - Is it possible to be perfect all the time?

I think the short and true answer is no. So, here’s what I have decided to do: pay attention to the big stuff when the big stuff is the vast majority of what matters, and glance past the small stuff, since very often it really doesn’t matter as much. I’ve decided to practice being less hard on others, and myself, while maintaining high standards.

I have decided to rededicate myself to first crediting people and companies for the essence of what they do, for their intentions first, paying attention to the details after that. That way I don’t become judgmental to the point of missing the big point. That way I give first priority to honoring something and someone.

Last night a friend told me I am uptight. She said it in jest and we all laughed, knowing she isn’t mostly wrong. That uptightness helps me get a lot of things right. But, I doubt more of it would help me get even more right.

I hope you strive, as I do, for perfection. It’s a good and worthy goal. It does, however, remain an ideal and so is inherently difficult to achieve over time. One could argue that the more you do, the higher the stakes you’ll not be perfect. And anyway, we don’t see everything. We don’t catch everything. In all our efforts, may the vast majority be of exceptionally high quality. I bet most of them are already. But, it’s impossible for them all to be perfect. And that’s the point.

Keep striving. Keep improving. Keep going. Those are the important things.

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