Practice Does Not Make Perfect

"Perfection is a journey, not a destination."

That quote is one that has stuck with me since my high school band camp days.

(If we're honest, there is quite a bit from band camp that has stuck with me over the last seven to ten years, but what happens at band camp stays at band camp right?)

A (now former) drum major for Virginia Tech's Marching Virginians told us this multiple times each year as we worked on sets and music and combining said music with moving around the field. The idea behind it was if you're goal was perfection, you would either never attain it or you would stagnate because where else is there to go once you're perfect.

Perfection is a journey because you can always be better.

And this philosophy goes beyond being applied to high school marching band students learning to make music sound good while making shapes on the football field.

For the last two months approximately, I've been on a bowling league and, to put it nicely, I'm not very good. My average is a whopping 70 pins and my handicap (90 percent of the difference of 200 and my average) is 117. I think I have the lowest average/highest handicap in our league.

But, this is my first year bowling regularly.

I have gone from bowling maybe once a year to three games a week.

I have gone from my average being 60 and not being able to break 70 in a game to an average of 70, consistently scoring higher than my average, and being able to bowl over 100. I have gone from wildly throwing the ball down the lane and getting more gutter balls than pins to throwing straighter balls and picking up strikes and spares.

I'm still not what I'd call good, but I'm better.

Even in writing, perfection isn't attainable.

When I look through Pinterest for articles on writing and prompts and tips on how to get away with literary murder, one of the most common sentiments is the following:

Your first draft is bad, fix it. Your second draft is better, fix it. The third is still better, keep fixing it.

And so on and so forth until there is a version that is as reasonably polished as it can be to sell and publish. Even then, it can still be better. There can still be plot holes and poor character development and lack luster settings in finished novels.

The truth is, the only things we as humans can be perfect at is being bad and becoming better.

You can't be a perfect musician, but you can be a better musician.

You can't be a perfect athlete, but you can be a better athlete.

You can't be a perfect writer, but you can be a better writer.

Practice doesn't make perfect. Practice doesn't even make best.

Practice makes better.

Always strive to be better.