646: Flipping the bird to 'practice makes perfect'

Around here we're probably all too familiar with the old adage 'practice makes perfect'. But the word perfect can often set off alarm bells, so today we're flipping the idea of perfection on its head.

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers, and a very happy Tuesday to you. Now, here on the Daily Pep this week, we are doing something quite fun. We are looking at all the kind of unspoken rules that so many of us have grown up with and really taught to live by. That do us more harm than good, and we are setting ourselves the fuck free. The rule we really challenged yesterday was all about this idea of never giving up, and rule number 2 is something that I think almost all of us have heard many times in our lives, and it is this bloody phrase: practice makes perfect. Now, I can't remember where I first heard this. It might have been during recorder lessons in primary school, I can't remember, but I think there is some place in the world for it. There are some skills it takes a long time to get to grips with, and it really is a case of showing up and doing the work, which is a lot of what we talk about around here.

But the minute we add perfect into the equation, I think it sets off real alarm bells for loads of us around here who are recovering perfectionists and people pleasers, and it just isn't helpful. I know for me, a memory that really sticks in my head that I think about quite often is being about age 14 and going into WHSmith's on a Saturday and buying one of those Ms. magazines, or it might have been something like Cosmo, and I was looking at the front cover at whatever beautiful woman was on the front, and I finally put two and two together in terms of airbrushing and all these women I looked up to, it kind of just dawned on me that if I was aspiring to look like one of these women, it was never ever gonna work because they didn't exist in the first place, or at least not this highly edited airbrushed photo on the front cover of a magazine. And in a lot of ways it was quite liberating because it was a great reminder that perfection doesn't exist and when it seems to exist, all might not be what it seems. And the thing is, is that we know this stuff logically and intellectually. We know that perfect doesn't exist in the first place, yet we spend so many of our most precious resources, our time and energy, on chasing perfection, or not thinking what we do is any good until it is the best it can possibly be. And let's just say a huge fuck that to all that shit. I don't know about you, but I think if I worked all my life at one tiny thing to make it perfect, I would be bored and restless because nothing's perfect, and that's the whole point.

When we think about a lot of the books that we love and the characters we love, we tend to really love their flaws. And I don't know about you, but when it comes to buying really fabulous handmade stuff, one of the things that always draws me in is a slight imperfection or some wonkiness because it makes me feel more human and more connected to the person that made it. And also, going back to yesterday's rule that we were breaking about not quitting, this whole idea of practice makes perfect definitely does not apply for things that we hate doing in the first place. Because it is only going to make us hate it more. So today we're going to rewrite "practice makes perfect" into "practice makes things interesting if you want to do them in the first place." That feels a lot kinder, takes off a shitload of pressure, and I think that is a rule that I could live by. So here's to flipping the bird to practice makes perfect. Here's to knowing in our hearts and in our heads that perfect just doesn't exist. And here's to being your gloriously imperfect self. Have a wonderful day, my dear.

Episode transcript automatically produced by Castmagic.io

ABOUT THE DAILY PEP! PODCAST

A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women.

If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines

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