Everyone wants to be perfect. It is simply human nature. We strive to be the best possible version of ourselves. We strive for perfection. But striving for perfection isn't always the best option. By striving for perfection, we set unattainable standards for ourselves. We succumb to what society sees as perfection in an attempt to achieve "the perfect life." But that is absolutely not what personhood is about. Being a person means you have knowledge of your imperfections, and you accept them and try to improve them.
In trying to be perfect, we try to give too much. We try to give 100 percent to the task at hand, and many times, that is absolutely normal. If you have one exam next week, you are going to give 100 percent to studying for that subject alone. But if you have two exams next week, you have a bit of a dilemma. You clearly can't give 100 percent to studying for both 100 percent of the time. You can either divide your preparation time perfectly, or focus on one exam more than the other.
It is impossible to give 100 percent to 100 percent of the things you are doing 100 percent of the time. That fact is one of the hardest things to accept. No matter how much we want to, we simply can't give 100 percent to absolutely everything. Sometimes you need to settle for only being able to give 75 percent to a few different things, rather than attempting to give 100 percent to several things and failing in all of them. So if you are trying to give 100 percent to 100 percent of the things you do 100 percent of the time, here is some advice.
Stop. Unless you have found a perfect system that allows you to perfectly perform in all of your activities, there is no point in trying to give 100 percent to everything all of the time.
Prioritize. Find what you are passionate and follow it. Yeah, you can be passionate about a few different things. Stick with what you love and are curious about it. Curiosity activates the same parts of the brain as reward. Your brain sees learning about things you are curious and passionate about as its own reward in itself.
Find internal motivation. We study to do well on exams, run to do better in a race, practice an instrument to do better on a solo, etc. Well these are all important and we want to do well for the exam, race, or solo, what are we going to do when we don't have an exam, race, or solo? Stop learning, running, or practicing an instrument? Somewhere, there is a little kid who fell in love with a subject, sport, or instrument just for the sake of it. Not because they had to. Find the internal motivation for that child, for yourself. Not only will you enjoy whatever you decide to devote your time to, but you will continue to enjoy it even when you don't have an external motivating factor.
As much as you want to, and think you can, give 100 percent to 100 percent of the things you do 100 percent of the time, you simply can't. Trying to do so will just lead to stress and failure. So find what you love, what you need to do, and give 100 percent to that. By doing so, you can finally put yourself and your own desires first. By not giving 100 percent to everything you want to, you will finally be able to feel 100 percent like yourself.
