This Is What Happens When You Stick To Your High Standards

By

From my zodiac descriptions and personality tests alone, many would label me as a “perfectionist.”

Yes, I am a self-confessed magnifier of details but a perfectionist? NO. My attitude of giving full attention to the slightest detail has raised a lot of eyebrows. I have already tried to reflect on this fact, why am I like this? It is because I have standards. People would often tell me that my standards are so high in all things. That I would just face disappointment after disappointment if I continue to be this kind.

Yes, I have standards but I think they aren’t high. I won’t deny it and I don’t even feel the need to defend why I am like this. However, allow me to put a different pair of glasses in your eyes for a while to give you a different light of this generally perceived weakness and how it turned out to be, in one way or another, a positive thing for me.
 
Like you, I also believe in the clichéd saying that nobody is perfect. Definitely, nobody can achieve perfection which we believe is flawless, unblemished and without defect. If this perfect state is ever true then the world would have been perfect a long time ago because a lot of great men in history have already tried achieving this. Perfection, I believe, is just a mere idea which we can never attain. But something close to perfection? Well that’s possible! At least.
 
However, most of us who believe in the impossibility of achieving perfection are often dragged unconsciously to the point of having no standards and eventually to the dark pits of mediocrity. A lot of people get confused with the thin line which separates accepting that humans are imperfect and settling for the average. Most often than not, people fall on the latter. What most of us fail to realize is that the two are entirely different, that accepting your weaknesses is never the same as doing things just for the sake of doing them.

Most of us fail to set standards within ourselves and also for other people we interact with which is why we often wonder why we don’t get to where we want to be, we don’t get what we deserve or we don’t get treated right. I have read in the book, “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari” that the only limits in our lives are the ones we set ourselves. We are so afraid to set standards because we think that we might end up getting disappointed if we fail to reach the bar (or if other people fail to reach the bar we set) but don’t you think that’s way better than putting up with just anything?

Don’t you think that it is better to set standards and fail than have no standards at all and just stick to the average? You must know what you want and stick to it no matter what. Dream big and work towards it with commitment and conviction —no one can ever stop you but yourself. It is far better to aim high and miss it than aim low and surely hit it. Everyone is already doing that.  You must dare to be different. Achieving things is never about the result, it is about the effort you exert, the discovery that you can do more.

That is what makes perfection a journey and not a goal. The same principle applies to setting standards for other people. Never settle for anything less than what you deserve. Never lower your standards for anybody for in setting standards, you’re enabling them to aim high also. Don’t you think we all deserve the best in life, work, study and love?
 
Setting standards will help you be the best and give the best of yourself to others. Having standards would squeeze out the best in you even in the simplest tasks in life. We have to realize that we, humans, have limitless potential which we can unleash upon our discretion. We just have to believe in ourselves. Doing our best in everything would give us satisfaction which I think would somehow get us an inch closer to the perfection we want to achieve.

But of course, remember that mistakes are inevitable. We might miss the mark sometimes but at least we’ll have no regrets of not doing everything when we had the chance. Remember that time is a non-renewable resource and that opportunities never come the same way again. Having standards is not bad at all as long as it’s reasonable. It saves you from living the average life and achieving the life you want and deserve.
 
So you think I’m a perfectionist? I guess I’m just a hater of mediocrity and a believer that we all deserve nothing but the best in all aspects of our lives.

Check out our stream for more articles like this!
Visit Thought Reel today.