A short podcast/transcript by Brian Johnson reflecting on Dr. Nate Zinsser's The Confident Mind. Brian emphasizes balancing perfectionism — enough to drive improvement but not so much that it becomes destructive — and introduces the metaphor of 'spice' to describe the virtuous mean between too little and too much perfectionism. He links this idea to prior notes on optimalism vs. perfectionism and closes with a motivational call to action.
Chapters
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic one. In our last plus one we talked about some more wisdom from Dr. Nate Zinsser's great book, the Confident Mind. More specifically, we talked about the fact that we need to make some deposits into our psychological bank account on three time horizons, our past, our present, and our future. I also quickly pointed out that we need to embrace the fact that none of us are ever going to be perfect. I want to talk about that some more real quick. Let's get to work. Dr. Z tells us, quote, nothing will drain your confidence account faster or prevent your first victory more surely than your refusal to accept and work with inevitable human imperfection. If you punish yourself for each and every mistake, error and imperfection, it's impossible to be confident. Destructive perfectionism is different from striving for perfection, the discipline and dedication necessary for sustaining your efforts toward improvement. He continues by saying, a small amount of perfectionism is absolutely required if you're going to develop your knowledge, skills and fitness, just as a small amount of spice is required in most cooking recipes to give the meal some excitement. But too much perfectionism will derail your progress and ruin your life, just as too much spice will ruin any meal. Now that's my new all time favorite way to think about high standards and bringing just the right amount of perfectionism into our lives. Think spice. We want just the right amount. Too little or too much ruins the meal. The same way too little or too much perfectionism ruins our lives. Note this wisdom also reminds me of Tolbin Shohar's distinctions on the Optimalist versus the Perfectionist we talk about in our notes on the Pursuit of Perfect and in Conquering Perfectionism 101. Check those out in the app if you haven't yet, we've got links to them in this one. As Dr. Z says, strive for perfection, don't demand it. Here's to making the deposits in your anti fragile confidence bank accounts through your thoughts and actions all day, every day. Especially today. It's day one. We're all in. Let's go hero.
