Happiness is Only Two Simple Steps Away
Posted by Peter James | Posted in Balanced Life, Business Success Tips | Posted on 25-02-2009
Tagged Under : achieving happiness, balance, Balanced Life, become successful, being perfect, Business Success Tips, goals, Healthy Living, how to deal with pressure, positive mind, positive thinking, secrets of success, self development, self help, self improvement, stress relief
Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.
Every Wednesday is usually Personal Development in Business, but today it’s just life in general…
Normally, a personal development post talks about what changes you can add to your life to make it better. However, this post is more about addition by subtraction.
You see, the other day, I thought of something that really has boggled my mind. I was thinking about the concept of ‘perfection’ that is held so dear in our society. Here is the definition from Oxford American dictionaries…
Perfection: the condition, state, or quality of being free, or as free as possible, from all flaws and defects.
Perfection is something we all hope to achieve in certain areas. It is a concept that is held in the highest regard. In baseball, the best a pitcher can do is throw a perfect game. In bowling, the best is a perfect score of 300. When taking an exam, we hope to achieve a ‘perfect’ grade of 100.
However, what was really bothering me was this question: ‘Does perfection really exist?’
Is there such a thing and is it natural? To me, perfection does not exist, except in the minds of humans. Animals, and other life, have no concept of perfection. Babies, when they are born, also have no concept of perfection. In fact, without the word, there would be no such thing. There would just be life.
The world is not perfect, by all accounts, but yet is it? Maybe the balance of imperfections and flaws is what keeps the world going. Maybe trying to make everything ‘perfect’ by human standards achieves exactly the opposite in life.
The yang of this yin is that because perfection is held in such high regard, imperfection is something we are all embarrassed about. Our imperfect body, or our imperfect credit score, or our imperfect relationship history, etc., is something we all tend to be embarrassed about at one time or another.
With this in mind, I started to think of a world where the concept of ‘perfection’ does not exist. Suddenly, everything started to make more sense to me. If you eliminate the idea of perfection, what you are left with is trial and error. On some trials, there may be no error. On other trials, there will be nothing but error. Regardless though, they are both held in equal regard. They are a trial. Perfection is just one possible outcome of the trial. It is an expectation that we create in our mind.
So why do we spend our lives striving so much for something that really does not exist?
We strive and strive to be perfect in school, college, work, business, our hobbies, and our social life. Yet, if perfect does not exist, how will we ever really achieve it? Why when we make a mistake, or fail to be perfect, do we get so down on ourselves? Being imperfect is actually the most natural thing on this planet, so why not enjoy it?
Two Simple Steps to Achieve Happiness
I challenge you to follow these two steps throughout the next day, week, or even month. See if this change in mindset does not effect you in the most incredible way. Whatever task you have at hand, or whatever goal you are trying to reach, I want you to try a different approach. Instead of trying to do everything perfect, I want you to try this…
- Clear your mind of the idea of perfection. It does not exist. The task you are about to undertake is simply a trial. No matter how you do, you will have learned from experience and be better for it.
- Focus on the task, and not the outcome. Do the best you can, and do not judge the results. Simply doing the best you can is all that matters.
I have found this thought process to be quite liberating. Suddenly, the pressure that society places on us to live these perfect lives is gone. Not only that, but now when I notice other people’s imperfections I realize, they are just like me. In fact, that’s what makes them unique. Where I have succeeded, they may have failed, and vice versa. All Human beings are equal in this regard. Never has a person lived a perfect life, so why do we strive to do so?
Striving for something that is impossible to achieve is only going to produce unhappiness, and a lack of satisfaction.
I think that is why, regardless of the incredible advances in technology, work, sports, and other areas of life, we as humans, and especially Americans, are never satisfied. Nothing is good enough for us, except a concept that does not exist except in our minds.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this matter in the comments section below…
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Damn. That was pretty deep. I kind of cameto the same realization this week. Thats really odd. Actually Something Ryan Imel of themeplayground.com (buy his theme is great
said to me about websites that kinda pertains to life across the board. He said and I am semi Paraphasing “get the site up fix it as you go”. That is how I think life works. If you wait to perfect a site, before you launch it that day will never come. It is better to get it up and play around with it, trial and error, until you got a really solid refined project. The same goes for art music or yourself as a person, in all these things we get better by doing, working in broad strokes, then over time refining until we have a wonderful masterpeice or a cacophony. Succeeding or failing. Both paths create an everlasting impression on us that changes us into the person we are meant to become down the path of life. If you lose the idea that perfect exists, you gain a freedom of everything around you. If nothing is perfect, then everything is perfect.
This is great! Lately I’ve been doing #2 in the weight loss area, but I’m going to apply these 2 steps in other area as well
@Chris
Gaining freedom is exactly what I mean. It’s amazing how much our own minds can keep us down.
@HappySkinnyGirl
Weight Loss is the worst, cause most people don’t understand, just cause your weight goes down does not mean you are healthier, and on the yang side, if it goes up, it does not mean thats bad. If you workout regularly, and watch what you eat, I guarantee, regardless of what that scale says on a daily basis, you will win out in the long run. GOOD LUCK!
This is a great post. There is a BIG difference between seeking perfection and simply saying to yourself that you will do the best you can. I agree that perfection does not exist and the endless journey to reach perfection can only make us miserable.
@bonnie
Thanks! I agree, there is a huge difference. I found that less expectations = more success.
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