Do you beat yourself up if something is not absolutely right? Do you wait and delay until every possible perspective is considered and worked out before launching a new plan? Do you avoid situations because you have not practiced enough? How much is enough? Isn't there a point that you should just "get in there" and do it?
Perfection is defined as precision, flawlessness, exactness. It is often a necessary or noble outcome. Perfection is an exceptional quality to create something of the highest standard or having someone perform at the best level one can possibly strive to attain, but one has to measure that against the toll of reaching it, especially in certain non-critical areas of life. Perhaps a new perspective is in order?
Many people are perpetually stressed out because something is not perfect. They constantly lose sleep thinking about it or they stop dreaming because they have "failed" at some point. Some people are such perfectionists that they must maintain order and control in many or all aspects of their lives. As a result, they end up with a number of disorders or syndromes. These disorders may manifest as physical or mental ailments, commonly seen as insomnia, stress and/or exhaustion.
What if instead, we could bring "excellence" to that moment? Excellence in terms of bringing the best version of ourselves to the table. In that moment, would you feel differently?
Granted, there are times that we want to wait until all the unknowns are known and certain things are tested to be "faultless." For example, for those in the parachute-making business, less than perfect cannot be tolerated. But remember, we aren't making parachutes. In day-to-day planning, how often do you avoid launching into something and creating the experience because you see it as not being quite right? Or you hold off on acting because it is not quite done yet or not yet fully "worked out"?
In addition, there are likely times that you beat yourself up because the result you were hoping for was not perfection. As a result, you carry it around like a ton of bricks on your back, or you think and stew about what did not happen vs. looking at how well you did with what you had at the time.
Defining Excellence
If we look to "doing" and "being" our best in the moment, we are trying to excel. It involves making the best decision or creating the best with the life experience you have up until that point in time. It involves present-time consciousness, reflection, creativity and gumption. Excellence is an outstanding feature or superiority of outcome.
The bar of excellence continually changes as we grow, learn and experience life. The skill sets and efficiency of a 5-year-old putting together a peanut butter sandwich are markedly different than that of a 10-year-old, and different still than that of a 25-year-old. Likewise, the ability of a 15-year-old elite swimmer will manifest as a different form of excellence than that of a 22-year-old Olympian.
How we approach our daily and life activities with excellence depends on our center of focus and our energy available for the task. Our focus is how determined we are in concentrating on one aspect while ignoring other things. If our energy is low, it may hamper our ability to focus.
What is of significance is living our personal best. Your "best version of you" has to do with three specific things: your ability, your motivation and your attitude. Ability is your natural capacity for a particular task. It is your talent, which may initially be raw, but can be refined through practice, acquiring or learning new skills and applied with information. Motivation is the driving force behind your actions: what inspires you to achieve. We achieve our goals through motivation. Motivation can be as basic as avoiding pain or seeking pleasure. We can also be motivated by a purpose or cause that evokes our emotions. Attitude is how we think and feel about what we are doing. It is our perspective toward a specific task, place or thing.
How we go about our day and the level of focus we give each of our daily tasks will be ranked moment to moment in terms of how we currently feel about it, our talent in that particular area and our talent to perform the task or job. I can be absolutely focused in delivering an adjustment to a patient, but perhaps not so much in cleaning the sink at the end of dinner. The former is of significant importance to me, while the latter, although important, allows for less than my full attention.
I remember in school that while I excelled academically, my best learning involved areas that did not require perfection. If you are like me, you may remember the questions you did not get right. At the end of the day, as long as you learned from the experience, then the lesson was one of growth.
With excellence, there is room for growth. With perfection, there is no chance for growth because there is no higher standard or new lesson. With excellence, the bar is raised, whereas with perfection, it is not. How can you improve on perfection?
Perfection occurs in the world when there needs to be black or white and no in-between. Yet, how often does our world contain shades of grey when it is not an either-or situation? I believe that if one were to ask a master artist or composer if they had painted a perfect painting or written a perfect symphony, they would reply negatively. Could one more stroke of the brush have been added, or one changed? Likely, yes! The point is that what has been created has been borne out of excellence, including doing the best at the present time.
If granted a historical review, there are times when we have achieved moments of what we think are perfection, but upon retrospect, by coming in with a new perspective of time and experience, we realize it was not actually perfection at all. But that doesn't mean we failed at achieving excellence, because we accomplished all that we could in that moment.
We are limited in life by what we think we know, what we do not yet know and what we may never know. We are limited by our perspectives and life experiences. We may learn and gain knowledge from books and courses, but that pales in comparison to the actual experiences we go through in life. Thus, the question (and challenge) is posed: In your day-to-day comings and goings, will you be bound to perfection or liberated through excellence?
Continuing to impress the advertising and marketing world, The Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP) has again been recognized by industry organizations for its excellence in educating consumers on the benefits of chiropractic, this time through social media, newsletters, and demonstrating thought leadership by promoting holistic well-being.
Dr. Louis Sportelli received the Lee-Homewood Chiropractic Heritage Award during the annual conference of the Association for the History of Chiropractic (AHC). During his nearly 60-year career, Dr. Sportelli has embodied the spirit of the award, given to “living individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the chiropractic profession.”
Presently there is no consensus on the best treatment for Achilles tendon rupture; and its management is still controversial. The treatment options are conservative treatment and surgical repair. With either treatment, be it conservative or surgical, Achilles tendon tears necessitate prolonged recovery and rehabilitative management.
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