Dealing with expectations
“Even though people say that perfection is the enemy of progress, I’d like to add that we should still shoot for it anyways, keeping in mind that the outcome will only represent a stepping stone”
We all have expectations and we all have ideals and that is AWESOME and important. We all need a plan and we all need a target. However I have seen the trend in myself and others that we set our standards extremely high and when a product is done and it works but doesn't exactly fit our vision we become angry. This happens in work, love, art and anything for that matter. In work a person that is hired is expected to bring a level of expertise. And usually they do BUT when it doesn't meet the standards of a certain boss or coworker they don't understand how something like this could even happen. The issue here I believe is that people do not take into consideration that perfection, or something close to that comes with a lot of time and experience. Mastery can come as a result of 10,000 hours of training and still people make mistakes. Here's the deal to all bosses out there: Don't expect an intern or someone that just joined your force to perform at the same level as a professional that has been working there for years. In love don't expect to have your perfect relationship the first year. The relationship will get better with time. In art don't stop creating because you're obsessing over one piece in a way that it will stop you or the people working with you from creating more and new pieces.
The reality of it is that the perfection that you want and are aiming for lays in a future that is beyond you. The focus is creating and tweaking. However the tweaking should be done in a way where we are not looking at the present as the a final product or a judgement of skill but as a stepping stone to a new level. I guess this is why we've become such a sad culture. We have all we need but we're always looking at what we're missing and judging ourselves as inadequate when really we are just at a phase of our evolution. I guess the most important attribute a person should be judged on shouldn't be the level they are at but rather their willingness to progress and create more in order to progress. People shouldn't be down on themselves for not having the body of their dreams, the job they wish they had, etc... They should only judge themselves on weather they are progressing. This is what happened to me in the beginning of my career. I though "Man, why am I not a director, directing awesome documentaries like xx or films like xx or have the equipment that xx has (jokes about xx and what that means may begin). However I should always be aware that I can't judge myself as a person that isn't at a certain level yet but rather as someone that is doing, learning and enjoying the best of the level that they are cruising by. That is the whole point. Enjoy the stage you are going through and do your best because the grass will ALWAYS be greener, trust me on that however at the end of the day, stop looking at someone else's grass and focus on taking care of yours and seeing it through its growth.
Okay I have to go deeper because my name is Andres. One thing we have to keep in mind is this. Although we love taking life seriously and arguing about the minutia, let's keep in mind that in our death bed we're not going to regret the fact that our mirror had a spec of dust on the top right corner or that our first kiss wasn't picture perfect. The things that will matter most will always be love, if you made people smile, if you genuinely tried your best and ENJOYED your life. So life is something to be taken seriously yes BUT with a grain of salt because life is but a shooting star that is shining for an amount of time that will stop shining at a time unknown. Let's also remember that there are people in the world that are poor but live happily and that are rich but live miserable. The difference: e x p e c t a t i o n s.