Brian Johnson argues perfectionism is counterproductive and should be held in contempt. He cites Tony Robbins and Tal Ben-Shahar to contrast perfectionism with an "optimalist" stance: prioritize being in the game and doing your best rather than chasing an unattainable ideal. Define winning as participation and effort.
Chapters
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optimize plus one. In our last plus one we talked about how to be perfect. Wait, can you hear the philosophical laugh track? We've got a link to it. Seriously, I can hear the philosophical angels laughing right now just saying that phrase out loud. So yeah, perfection. Let's talk about that some more. In a recent chat with my Yoda, this subject came up and you know what he told me? He told me to, and I quote, hold perfection in contempt. I actually just got up as I was typing that and went to my closet to find my notes from that session. Monday, January 13, 2020 3:00pm Pacific Page One I wrote Perfectionism vs Growth Hold Perfection in contempt. It's an inferior use of life force, phil said. Next to which I wrote Tony Lowest standard as a reminder of the fact that Tony Robbins says that perfection is the lowest possible standard we can hold for ourselves. Why? Because it's absolutely impossible to attain. Therefore, we need to hold perfection in contempt and go for growth. Let's define winning as being in the game, doing our best, especially when we feel like poop emoji. That's today's plus one. Let's follow Tall Ben Shahar's wisdom from the Pursuit of Perfect that we talk about a lot in conquering Perfectionism 101 as we embrace the constraints of reality and become what he calls optimalists, striving to do our best while knowing that our ideals are more like guiding stars than distant shores. Here's to happy rowing, my friend, One imperfectly perfect oar stroke at a time.
