Every new year comes with some days off that naturally lead to some contemplation. The central point of this year’s thinking for me was perfection.

Perfection sounds like a grandiose thing, right? Who wouldn’t want to be perfect or achieve perfection in every thing they set out to do? When perfection is perceived in this light, every parent would want their kid to be a perfectionist. Every person would want to have a perfectionist in their team.

And yet perfection is not real. It is just an illusion. The dish you tried that day that felt like the best thing you have tasted in your life? It will pale in comparison to the next great dish you will try very soon. That perfect piece of code you think you wrote the other day? Wait until you look at it again with a clear mind in a few days and I am sure you will notice a few minor issues here and there. And that’s only if you are lucky and you don’t identify bigger problems.

But then, even if perfection is something unattainable it doesn’t hurt constantly striving to achieve perfection. Or does it?

If you ever had to deal with that person that strives for perfection at all costs, most likely you already know the answer. If not, you probably have guessed it by now anyway. As the popular quote goes: perfect is the enemy of good. If you perpetually obsess over perfection, you are at risk of achieving nothing.

So here is my reflection for 2022:

“Chase perfection, but never forget it doesn’t exist.”