Progress, not perfection
"As practice makes perfect, I cannot but make progress; each drawing one makes, each study one paints, is a step forward." - Vincent van Gogh
Practice ≠ Perfection
I was talking to my mum last week. We were discussing how discouraging it is to be a flawed human, to make mistakes, and to never attain perfection no matter how much you practice. All of my life, I've wrestled with the clichés "practice makes perfect" or "perfect practice makes perfect" because I can never seem to get it right no matter how much I practice. Perfection always eludes me. Maybe you've had a similar experience. We are constantly bombarded with inspirational messages that encourage us to embrace ourselves and our imperfections, but our society and cancel culture tell a different story. Further, perfection is always out of reach and seeking it ends in misery and feelings of inadequacy.
After my discouraged rant about the madness of perfectionism, my mum agreed with me, but then she offered me an alternative phrase: she said, "practice does NOT make perfect - but it does make progress."
I don't know why I never thought of practice like that before, but it has revolutionized (haha, for the past few weeks, anyway) the way that I view my habits and decisions. Here are 3 lessons I've gained through this new understanding:
1. Practice Should Be Intentional
Simply put, practice refers to the things you do on a regular basis - your habits, if you will. Anything you do habitually can become practice - which in turn becomes an investment into yourself and your future. With that in mind, the things you practice are critical. You can choose to invest in good practices or bad practices. This is where the intentionality comes in.
Nothing good happens by accident. You can't hope to improve at anything unless you work at it, therefore you must commit to practicing. For me, this looks like intentionally choosing to practice the piano after I get home from work - if I don't practice, I won't improve.
2. Practice Doesn't Have to be Perfect
What I mean by this is that when you practice, don't expect perfection right away. While your practice is important, and you should ensure you're not practicing mistakes, a shorter practice is better than not practicing at all. Sometimes I get hung up on the fact that I need to practice 2+ hours of piano per day and procrastinate until its too late to practice at all, when a shorter practice is better than nothing.
Mediocre consistency is better than excellent inconsistency. That is, if you daily practice something for 20 minutes instead of waiting for a moment when you have 2 hours to practice that only comes once a week, you'll actually end up practicing more if you do the shorter intervals. Additionally, the shorter intervals are easier to convince yourself to do, and you'll be developing a consistent habit!
3. Practice Is Moving Forward
Even if you don't feel like your practice was productive, each effort you make is like taking a step forward. As Van Gogh said in the opening quote, we cannot but make progress - as long as we're expending effort. It's always worth the effort in the long run.
The Bible states "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it" (Heb. 12:11). While this verse is referencing spiritual discipline (which is extremely important), the same principle applies to every aspect of our lives. Discipline is not pleasant, but we will reap the rewards of the practice we engage in now. Don't wait - start today, because practice = progress!
♪ - listen to Vanity by AC, Brady James, Matt Ngesa.
