Overcoming Perfection: Episode II — Pygmalion’s Story
The Cure — Are you going to get it done?
Pygmalion was a sculptor who found all the women in his town unattractive and not worth much. In his disappointment, he decided to carve the most beautiful woman out of ivory, Galatea. He was so impressed by his work, that he fell in love with the statue an prayed fervently to Aphrodite to bring the statute to life. Aphrodite granted him his wish.
Pygmalion is the inspiration for George Bernard Shaw’s play of the same name and the story behind the name of the phenomenon, The Pygmalion Effect. The phenomenon explains that setting high expectations increases one’s level of performance.
However, perfection takes this effect and paralyzes it.
How?
Because perfection is not a standard, when indirectly placed as a requirement to do anything, is an excuse to justify not doing what we don’t want to do — but what we need to do.
People don’t care what we say we will do, what we plan to do, what we are hoping to do, or what we had the best of intentions of doing, they care about what we actually end up doing. Nobody was ever remembered for all the stuff they wanted to do.
A great mentor of mine told that me success in pretty much every type of relationship boils down to three things — 1) Do I like you? 2) Do I trust you? and 3) Are you going to get it done?
The latter being what separates you from the pack.
Don’t misread me, quality is important. Setting high standards for yourself is important. Doing your best always in all ways is important. The Key word? Doing. Not wanting to do.
Quality and perfection come from quantity, not from planning. Not from strategizing. Not from talking about it. Not from getting everyone on board. Not from getting everyone’s feedback.
In Pygmalion’s story, he was so embarrassed by his request to Aphrodite. He knew if anybody found out about his very real and intimate love affair with an inanimate object he would be laughed at. So he prayed very quietly when no one was looking.
Pygmalion could of spent time thinking about how to pray, if he should of prayed, who to pray to, how to win their favor.
But no, where would he have been at the end of this? He demanded more of himself. Set his eyes on the prize. Came up with the idea to ask the Goddess of Love to bring his love to life, and went and did it — and got it! (sure, this is a mythological story about a questionable love for an inanimate object, but the moral is still the same).
The grading rubric of life is 50 pots. To accomplish our goals we need to make getting from point A to the point of success as straight as possible. It naturally is already curvy.
See, we get this high standard of performance, that perfection promises, from actually perform-ing the thing we want to perfect. (And no, perfection is not impossible — but let’s stay on topic).
However, many of us, myself included, add extra hurdles, twists, and turn to the already winding and obstacle filled road to accomplishing goals.
“I can’t pursue my dream because I don’t have the experience”
“Right now isn’t the right time.”
“I get why that is it important but I need to do these things first.”
“I don’t want to ship this product out to market yet because we need to iron out some details.”
“I can’t take this job because I just need some time to think about it.”
“I don’t want to take on any investments unless I know exactly what I am doing.”
“I can’t start this right now because I won’t be able to finish it.”
“I’m in too deep it wouldn’t make sense to do something else now.”
And it isn’t just in business that we see this, we see it in our personal lives too.
“I can’t get married to you because…I’m just not ready yet….(or) I have too much debt and don’t want to burden you with that…(or) I don’t know if I’ll be able to take care of you financially.”
“I don’t believe in God because there is no way he can truly love someone or something as wicked as me…(or) I’m too good for God.”
“I can’t do this right now because I need to just work on me before I do anything like this.”
Can you believe someone wouldn’t pursue their dream because they don’t have enough experience? Completely missing the point that the experience they yearn for is gained through the pursuit of that very dream they are holding back on?
Can you believe someone would miss out on a life partner — someone who would commit themselves fully to them — because they don’t feel they are ready yet? Completely blind to the fact that marriage is a journey, a continual work in progress, not a destination.
Perfection infects many areas of our lives. Accomplishing goals, success, finding a life partner, pursuing your dream, taking risks — they are already tough enough.
Why add in all this other stuff and extra hurdles that aren’t necessary just so it is perfect? Getting from point A to the point of success is already long, we don’t need to make it any longer.
Our cure is simple — follow the rubric of life, 50 pounds of pots — do something.
— mitchell
I work everyday to become a professional maker of something from nothing. Big and unimaginable goals are my boogie and achieving them is my song. If that analogy makes sense to you or you feel like you relate, hit the follow button. If you enjoyed this or didn’t enjoy this, please like and comment or whatever you do on the source you are viewing this from. Most importantly, share this with someone you love. You can follow me here on Medium or Instagram.
