In the movie Chariots of Fire the runner Harold Abrahams has just lost a race to Eric Liddell. He sits in the empty stadium staring, depressed, despondent. He just can’t move on from the loss, reliving it in his mind. His girlfriend, Sybil, arrives and tries to encourage him. She tells him how marvelous he was in spite of the loss. He angrily tells her, “If I can’t win, I won’t run!” She wisely, and just as angrily replies, “If you don’t run, you can’t win!” Harold’s goal was perfection, to win every race. Up until that moment he had achieved that goal. Losing the race shattered his dream of perfection. What now? Perfection was no longer an option. Why even try? In that moment he was paralyzed. He needed a different goal. But what? I totally get Harold’s thinking. I have often found that perfecionistic tendencies keep me from even trying. Could that be you, too?
Do you find yourself procrastinating? “It’s not the right time. The conditions aren’t just right. I don’t feel completely up to this. I don’t know enough, I’m not good enough, strong enough, smart enough.” If any of that sounds like you, you may be struggling with perfectionism. “Me?”you say, “I know I’m not perfect. Nobody’s perfect.” True. But sometimes we hold ourselves to a higher standard than is reasonable and that may keep us from achieving the purposes God has called us to. We may hold back waiting for perfect conditions and not do anything at all. That sounds very familiar to me. How about you?
Perfectionism is the need to be or appear perfect. Procrastination is just one sign. Perfectionists often procrastinate waiting for perfect conditions. Their motivation is many times to avoid failure. In fact, they might even become more focused on avoiding failure than actually achieving something. I have definitely been there! I struggle with it every time I look at a menu. “What if I choose something that I don’t end up liking? Maybe I’m not really hungry after alll. Is it time to go home?”
If you don’t try you can’t fail, but if you don’t try, you can’t succeed either. Perfectionists have high standards for themselves and can often impose those standards on others. How are you doing in that department? If we work so hard to avoid failing ourselves, we may not give those around us freedom to fail either. When we do that we take away some of their opportunity to learn. I know that I have been there as well and I have regrets. I want to help you to avoid some of those!
My friend, perfection is not a reasonable goal, but excellence is. When we make perfection our goal, like Harold Abrahams, we can become depressed, discouraged and hopeless. If you have recognized that your own perfectionist tendencies are keeping you from stepping out, then it is time for a new goal other than perfection. Make excellence your ambition.
Excellence means “above the ordinary” or above average. Excellence means that I reach for the highest that I can attain. Above what is considered my average. Above mediocre and inferior. My best effort. My best work. But sometimes its hard to recognize good enough. How do I know that I have done my best?
God grades on obedience, not perfection. Evaluate based on effort, not product. Evaluate your work based on obedience to God’s call rather than result. Am I doing what God has asked me to do? But what about the Scriptures that say “be perfect” such as this one, “But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48 NLT) In this case perfection means complete and mature. It implies spiritual wholeness and integrity. It means that our goal is not exterior perfection, doing all the right things, but interior character that reflects God’s character. Certainly that is a lofty goal, but God has given us His Holy Spirt to keep working in us to achieve that goal. It isn’t one that we can reach on our own. Thank God for His Holy Spirit!
Strive for excellence rather than perfection. It took me a long time to accept that perfection was not a reasonable goal. It took admitting that Jesus was the only perfect person who ever walked the earth and that walking on water was not in my power. There was freedom in it, but also disappointment. If I couldn’t be perfect, then what should my goal be? I have found that excellence is a goal worth pursuing. Excellence means I do my best, even if it isn’t perfect.
Perfection is an illusion. It requires more than you have, more time, more effort. Perfection is never satisfied and when perfection is the goal you will always be waiting for ideal conditions that never arrive. You will never start. If you look for perfect outcome you will stop trying. If you evaluate your efforts as less than perfect you will get depressed and hopeless.
Excellence means you give above your average.You do your personal best. You do what you are able and if you stumble through it, that’s okay. If you have been grading yourself on perfection, it’s time to stop. God doesn’t call us to perfection. He calls us to obedience. Whatever it is that He has called you to, even the small goals of character, such as speaking kindly when angry, or being patient with the person who get’s on your nerves, start today.
Make your goal doing your very best, above your average with God’s help and empowerment of the Holy Spirt.That is success and brings glory to God. Your best won’t be perfect. Your best means that you may trip sometimes, but that is alright. I once heard it put this way, “There is no failure. Only learning.” The goal is to get moving and keep moving with your eyes on the prize of God’s glory, not perfection.
The gun has already sounded. The race has already begun. It’s time to give it all you’ve got and in this race, all you”be got will always be enough.
Go for it!
Key thought: Your best effort is good enough. Don’t put off obedience waiting for perfection.
A Scripture to consider: “And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:4 NASB
A YES challenge: Spend some time in prayer asking God to show you where you might be struggling with perfectionism. What is the thing you have been holding back on waiting for perfection? Make a plan with God for how you will begin to step out in that area.
Prayer: Lord, I really want to do my best for You, to BE my best for You. Help me to separate excellence from perfection. Help me to make obedience my goal and to leave the results to You. I don’t want to hold back any more. Help me to step out. Amen.
In case you are interested, here are my sources:
Bibliography:
10 Signs you May Be a Perfectionist By Elizabeth Scott, MS Updated March 16, 2019 https://www.verywellmind.com/signs-you-may-be-a-perfectionist-3145233
The Many Faces of Perfectionism by Etienne Benson MonitorStaff November 2003, Vol 34, No. 10. Print version: page 18
https://www.apa.org/monitor/nov03/manyfaceshttps://www.apa.org/monitor/nov03/manyfaces
Top 11 Signs That You are a Perfectionistby Celestine Chua