Recently I’ve read about Marcus Aurelius – a phenomenal Roman philosopher.
It’s hard to believe it, but he did a lot of self-doubting. He even compared himself to Plato and he was afraid he would never be like him. Can you just imagine how cute and endearing it is? He said to himself: “Get a move on – if you have it in you – and don’t worry whether anyone will you credit for it. And don’t go expecting Plato’s Republic; be satisfied with even the smallest progress, and treat the outcome of it all as unimportant.“
Elizabeth Gilbert, my favorite writer, talks about perfectionism a lot and responds to the philosopher’s fear or doubt: ” It’s ok not to be Plato!” (from Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert which is an absolute must-have for all performers, artists).
Perfectionism holds you back. Like it holds me back to make more videos because I know they’re far from perfect. Some people never finish things they started. Some even don’t start them! They claim they set high standards, but in fact they may be afraid to be rejected by others. As It’s the fear that is behind our perfectionism. I, for example, want to please people and be seen as professional. Otherwise I may think I don’t deserve their attention, time or perhaps even their friendship. But you know what? It’s bull***t! People really don’t care and think too much about you. They’re concentrated on their stuff and their life.
And you know what? Something occurred to me while writing this script —-a message to those who are constantly honing their English skills, who are never satisfied with the way they speak… Stop trying to make your English perfect. Your English is better than perfect. Why? Because “Perfect” doesn’t exist. And yes, please make mistakes! Lots of them! It’s only a sign that you’re brave enough to attempt to say a word or two.
So does “Perfect” mean? From now on: Absolutely nothing. It doesn’t exist. Erase it from your dictionary.
And if you want to work on your imperfect English, join my MasterMind classes or sign for Agata’s newsletter where you’ll get more stuff and food for thought. https://www.subscribepage.com/agatasway
Extra vocabulary:
endearing = charming
it holds you back = it stops you
it occurred to me = it came to me
to attempt = to try
to erase = to remove