Embracing Imperfection: The Hidden Costs of Perfectionism
School
Laurel Springs School**We aren't endorsed by this school
Course
ENGLISH AP
Subject
Communications
Date
Dec 12, 2024
Pages
2
Uploaded by MajorExplorationHippopotamus40
Your AssignmentRespond to question 3 on the 2021 AP Language and Composition Exam. Review the course rubric to understand how your essay will be scored.Note: In order to prepare for the time constraints of the AP Language and Composition Exam, allow yourself no more than 40 minutes to read and respond to this prompt.Although striving for perfection and progress is a noble objective, it has drawbacks. On the one hand, embracing perfection promotes development, creativity, and a more positive outlook on life. However, striving for perfection can result in stress, stifled creativity, inflated expectations, and negative effects on your general health. The road of growth and learning from our flaws is what truly adds worth, not the impossible pursuit of perfection. The pursuit of perfection is ingrained in society as a value that inspires people to realize their full potential. But people and their surroundings may suffer as a result of this never-ending quest. The pressure it generates is one significant factor. People experience ongoing stress and hardship when they hold themselves to high standards or expect others to be flawless. From personal experience, putting a lot of stress and pressure on oneself to perform flawlessly counteracts the work a person puts into it. This is because they can’t fully concentrate on what they need to do since they are only focusing on the result. I have experienced this a couple times while playing in contention during golf tournaments, and it is a mindset that needs to be actively worked on in order to fully get it. A specific example is when I was in the lead at a golf tournament after the first day because I played very well. But, on the second day I was nervous and also under a lot of pressure because I was playing with girls who were ranked higher than me, so I didn’t perform well and dropped a lot of spots in the end. Over every shot, I was counting my shots which was detrimental to my score. I was very disappointed with how I played and I attribute a lot of it to the pressure to achieve perfection. Feeling the stress of
perfection in the moment negatively affected my execution during a very important round of golf, which left me very frustrated afterwards. So in the end, pressure lowers rather than improves a person's performance and can cause anxiety, sadness, and burnout. The quest for perfection frequently leads to a fear of failure, which stifles creativity and invention in addition to causing pressure and stress. People limit their potential for achievement and growth when they are scared to take chances or make mistakes out of a fear of failure. Trial and error, which accepted imperfection as a guideline for progress, produced some of the most revolutionary inventions. This notion is demonstrated with a business example. Businesses that embrace failure as a necessary component of learning are typically more creative. Tech behemoths like Apple and Google are excellent examples since they recognize that not every concept will be perfect and encourage trial and error. This method enables advancements and improvements that might not have been achievable in a strict pursuit of perfection.In conclusion, aiming for perfection frequently has unfavorable effects, even though the pursuit of excellence is admirable. A better approach to your own development is made possible by accepting imperfection, which also promotes growth, creativity, and a reduction in stress. Theprocess of growth and learning from our flaws is what really matters, not the impossible pursuit of perfection.