Precision vs Perfection

 I recently listened to a podcast featuring a sports psychologist discussing elite athletic performance. While I do not count myself as a member of that club, I do believe that there are many lessons to be learned about the tools we all possess that can help us become our best selves.  

What I found most interesting was the concept of focusing on precision over perfection.  The idea that even for those who perform at the highest levels of achievement, there will NEVER be a perfect execution or perfect performance.  NEVER.  Instead, there can and will be moments of precision, when things are firing at the right times, there is a sense of flow state being engaged, and what has often felt difficult becomes less so.  Not to say that the effort behind it is low or the outcome is mediocre.  The opposite is true.  

When we shift our thinking away from focusing on perfection, we allow ourselves some room to move, and our innate knowing of what needs to be done starts to shine.  For this to work, however, we need to believe in ourselves and our abilities more deeply.  Regardless of whether or not we have a bad game or an off workout, we need to really and truly embrace that deep down we are capable of the goals we are setting for ourselves, even if it requires suspending disbelief for a while.  

Imagine the freedom we could feel if we gave ourselves the gift of trusting in our potential and cast aside all the negative voices and self-criticism we often hold onto. Back to focusing on precision as a goal, rather than the unattainable goal of perfection.  Precision is measurable and is composed of smaller, repeatable steps that can be practiced and ingrained over time.  Perfection, on the other hand, is a qualitative measure of an outcome based upon an idea of what that outcome should look like.  Where the idea or standard for perfection comes from is anyone's guess...all too often, I think, it is based on assumptions we make from partial truths and guesses that have no real foundation or anchor in reality. 

 At the end of the day, chasing perfection is as tiring as a dog chasing its tail.  Perpetually stuck in a cycle of striving and reaching to never quite feel like the end goal has been achieved, because as we get close, we tend to move the goal posts just a little bit farther out.  Despite all that, it is difficult to accept the idea that we cannot reach the pinnacle of perfection.  This is why I like the idea of working towards precision - it feels rewarding to know that all of the work, repetition, and consistency WILL pay off in the end.  And things will only feel better and better as we move closer to that level of mastery.