Perfection vs. Sufficiency

December 7, 2019 by Francisco Castillo

Within a lifetime, most human beings want to reach perfection, in part or at everything. How do we define perfection? Someone wants to have the perfect car, the perfect house, the perfect marriage, perfect kids, perfect education, perfect job, and so on forever.

Just like many other things, perfection is in the eye of the beholder. Is there a global definition of the perfect attire? The answer, so far, is no. If we were to define the attractiveness of a person from 0-10, a perfect 10 may be a 7 or a 6 depending on who is rating, and when and where the rating is taking place.

The idea of perfection is useful to motivate a person to achieve greater things. But it is only useful if one has an inner scorecard. When you allow other people to define what is perfect for your life, it can become messier.

The concept of sufficiency is a different story. It considers the realities of the world as they are, along with your individual perceptions. You combine both to reach a conclusion of what is sufficient for your life. We must not confuse sufficiency with mediocrity, because they are very far from each other. In considering mediocrity, there is no excuse for poor preparation. 

When talking about sufficiency, it is about having enough. It is about starting from base rates and then focusing on what is enough in the current context of your life. I have enough funds/wealth to live an independent life. I have enough friends to live a rich and meaningful life. I have enough health to do what I want in life. I have enough knowledge/wisdom to live a quality life. Bob Ross taught humanity a very valuable lesson; It is very important to know how to paint, but it is infinite times more important to know when to stop painting.

Do I need to have the perfect residence as explained by the real estate agent? Can I ask instead, is this house sufficient for the objective I would like to meet? Don’t shoot for the stars, stay on earth, and then try to improve it by 1% every day. Once you have reached enough, you can move forward to the next thing you want to explore in life without the shackles of always needing to show perfection.