Pobody's Nerfect: Why I'm Trying To Abandon My Quest For Perfection

Though this may come as a surprise to some, I don’t actually think I’m perfect. Yes, I make many jokes about it - arguably too many - but I, like everyone else, am painfully aware of my own flaws. Not only that, but I’m aware of the fact that I’m incapable of being aware of all of my flaws. I’ve been a perfectionist my whole life, but as of late especially I’ve been struggling not to beat myself up over my faults. I’ve been going round in circles ruminating over what I could be doing better as a person, and eventually it dawned on me that what I was actually doing was punishing myself for not being perfect.

We’ve all heard the phrase “nobody’s perfect” (especially those of us who were Hannah Montana fans back in the day) but it’s never seemed to really sink in for me. Like, sure, I know nobody’s perfect, but why do I have so many flaws? Why can’t I just know everything that I need to know, and always make the best decisions? Is that too much to ask? Then one day, while questioning the meaning of existence and eating crisps, it hit me that perfection leaves no room for progress. Perfection is stagnant, in contrast to an ever-changing and ever-evolving world, and that's exactly why nobody can or should be perfect.

Striving for perfection means striving for a point at which you get to stop growing. My quest for perfection is really just a result of my fear of making mistakes, which is ultimately counterproductive. I think that we leave far more room for growth when we accept that we will always make mistakes, and that's okay. Besides, living a life rooted in fear isn't good for anyone.

I have to confess, in the back of my mind I’ve always hoped I was working towards a point in my life at which I’ll have made the majority of the mistakes I’m ever going to make, and it becomes mostly smooth sailing from there on out. For some reason I always pictured myself having it mostly figured out by age 40 or so, but I'm sure any of you reading this who are over 40 will be chuckling at that notion.

When I really stop and think about it, being perfect sounds miserable. Part of the fun of life is in the learning process, in being able to look back and see how far you’ve come, and in knowing you always have more left to learn. Yes, I always hope to make decisions that have a net positive effect, but I think I need to start embracing the imperfect nature of life and focus on being brave, strong, kind, compassionate, heartfelt, sincere - but not perfect. And if any of this resonated with you, maybe you need to do the same too.

The world doesn't need people who are perfect; it needs people who show up, make an effort, and are prepared to learn from their mitsakes mistakes.