While reading these books, I realized how much of a fallacy this quest for this mythical ‘dream job’ was.
Perfect is the enemy of almost everything. It paints a picture of no roadblocks and perfect balance, things that don’t exist in the realm of normalcy.
In late 2018, an article was doing the rounds on social media. It showcased the perfect life of a certain Melania Edwards, supposedly an HSBC banking executive. You have to read the article in its entirety to marvel at its absurdity. Here are a few snippets from the piece:
- She wakes up at 5.30 am every day to meditate
- Her breakfast consists of fresh fruits and a green juice
- She plays a game of tennis before walking to her office
- She has lunch by some fancy lake
- She then commutes to her second office, making use of every minute of her commute by listening to podcasts
- She returns home, does a few yoga stretches and still has the time and energy to devote to a non-profit
- She then cooks up delicious dinner with her boyfriend and follows it up with a night walk around the neighborhood
Criticism for the piece came like an avalanche. Some people labeled it a ‘parody’. Some thought it was made up. Some wondered how living like that was even possible.
Then came the spoiler alert — it was all made up, an advertorial by HSBC bank to get talent to join them. They assumed that someone would see the charmed life one could lead if they joined them.
It was a terribly flawed approach.
There is no such thing as a perfect day. By ignoring all the not so pleasant parts, what one saw was not the day in the life of an executive, but someone’s curated Instagram feed.
I’ve always been fascinated by how people I admire work to see if there are some ideas I can incorporate into my own routine.
Stephen King’s On Writing is a wonderful journey into the mind of a prolific writer. In the book, he doesn’t paint a picture of a series of perfect days where he sits on a Mohagany desk and the words just flow. He writes of the how he typed Carrie, his debut novel that propelled him from unknown entity to fame and riches, in a trailer on a typewriter. He writes about the days when the words don’t flow as well, his battles with addiction and how not writing makes him feel unsettled. It’s a great read on how to get better at any craft.
In Better, a surgeon’s note on performance, surgeon Atul Gawande explains how doctors can improve how they treat and diagnose patients and offers real-life examples for us to learn from.
While reading these books, I realized how much of a fallacy this quest for this mythical ‘dream job’ was.
Perfect is the enemy of almost everything. It paints a picture of no roadblocks and perfect balance, things that don’t exist in the realm of normalcy.
Another way of looking at it is how to make things better.
How can you make your commute better?
How can you manage your time better?
How can you get better at anything that you need to get better at?
Better is simply a series of steps that takes you from where you are and puts you on a path to where you want to go.
On the other hand, perfect is a false promise, a Neverland that doesn’t exist in reality.
Over time, better can lead to near perfect.
