I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase ‘Practice Makes Perfect’ and perhaps have a similar expression in your own native language(s). It’s one of those things we often say without really thinking. I must have said it hundreds of times to my students over the years with the intention of motivating them. But I’ve recently stopped using the phrase. Why? Well, although I still firmly believe that we should all be aiming high and pushing our limits, perfection isn’t really an attainable goal, is it?
Perfect English
When new students tell me about their English goals, the word prefect comes up a lot. I want to have prefect grammar. I want my pronunciation to be perfect. But, if we think about the way we speak our own native languages, can we honestly say that we speak them perfectly?
I battle with perfectionism when speaking my second language, Spanish. In many situations, I review the phrase I want to say again and again in my head. If I have even the tiniest doubt as to the accuracy of the phrase what do I do? Well, the simple answer is nothing. I keep my mouth firmly shut. If the phrase isn’t perfect in my mind, it never reaches my lips. This means that I rarely get to practise my language as fear and doubt take over.
Practise Makes Progress
I recently came across a new phrase which is encouraging me to reframe my thoughts towards perfectionism: Practise Makes Progress. When I saw this phrase, it got me thinking – instead of focussing solely on the end-goal, which in my case was the perfectly constructed sentence, I should try shifting my energy to the activity itself. I had to consider the benefits practising would bring me. Based on my reflections, here are a few things treasons I think it’s more beneficial to focus on progress, not perfection.