Talent development 2: beware perfectionism

I would like to follow-up my post of two days ago, Secret to top-notch development of one's talent, with an important caveat.

I emphasized that you must be able to honestly and accurately criticize yourself if you are to develop your natural gifts to the highest possible degree. This is true. However, there are some whose natural disposition can cause them to fall into a nasty problem as they try to do this. I am speaking of the nasty vice of perfectionism.

It is good to want to do your best and try your best as you work on developing your talent. However, this can become perverted by perfectionism. Excessive perfectionism is actually one of the myriad subtle forms of pride rearing its ugly head. It is one thing to recognize a flaw and then work to remove it; it is another to become obsessed with being "perfect" at all costs. The former is good; the latter, bad. And it can be difficult to accurately distinguish between the two, especially in regard to oneself.

I have no foolproof solution for preventing perfectionism while still maintaining appropriately high standards. But, I do think that simply being aware of this potential pitfall is a very helpful first step toward avoiding it.

Following are a few suggestions as to how we might recognize when we are sliding towards being excessively perfectionistic (i.e. self-absorbed in a prideful way, which is unhealthy) rather than appropriately self-critical (which is healthy). For the sake of being specific, I will have in mind a musician who has just finished a practice session (something of which I have experience from my younger days).


Immediately after practicing . . .

1. Are you angry, hurt, or upset? These are signs of perfectionism (or, of biting off more than you can chew, or trying to excel at something in which you truly do not have much talent). A person who practices with humility and patience can be highly self-critical and demanding of himself yet at the end of a practice session will be at peace; he will not be angry. He should be able to enjoy the spiritual exhilaration that comes with doing something he loves and for which he has talent even while being physically and mentally tired. Prideful perfectionism ruins this inner delight while healthy self-criticism does not. Imagine the difference between a musician storming off a stage seething versus leaving the stage essentially joyful and grateful. Practice should be like this as well.

2. Can you practice alongside others who are more advanced than you are without being envious of them or angry at your own shortcomings? A mature and humble approach to developing one's talent accepts that there is a curve of growth that everyone must go through. And while the rate of the curve is steeper at first, a great musician never stops learning and growing. Also, aspiring musicians know that in order to be the best they can be it is essential to play with others who are more advanced. Solo practice, as necessary as it is, can never duplicate the irreplaceable value of playing alongside accomplished masters. Musicians who have the potential to be great know this and take every opportunity when they are young to learn all they can from those whom they aspire to emulate. Prideful young musicians would rather play in mediocre groups where they can stand out as the best. Humble young musicians who are serious about being the best they can be do not avoid situations where they are not the star of the group--they hunger for chances where this is the case so they can continue to grow and learn.

3. Were you focused on giving your all for the sake of the music, or were you occupied with imagining yourself as the center of attention in future performances? There is a big difference between demanding the best of yourself because you passionately love and respect the greatness of the musical arts, versus wanting to be good because you desire attention and praise. The former attitude is selfless and conducive to great artistry; the latter is selfish and stifles great artistry.

So these are a few ideas that hopefully might help to evaluate our motivations as we strive to develop our God-given gifts. We want to hit that mature place where we can be humble and selfless even as we are demanding and critical of ourselves, all the time keeping a healthy perspective that the human endeavor in which we are engaged is about something bigger and more important than ourselves. Themes that summarize this balanced attitude would be: 1) giving rather than taking, 2) gratitude and appreciation for the gifts of others, and 3) learning rather than showing off.

In my opinion, great musicians who are blessed to have long careers, are beloved by the public, and who will end up contributing the most to the enrichment of human culture are able to maintain an approach whereby they love their art more than praise (and thus see music as bigger than their own personal careers), never lose great respect and appreciation for their peers and forebears, and understand that no matter how accomplished they become they will never know it all and will never cease learning more about their art and growing as an artist.

Secret to top-notch development of one's talent

Have you ever wondered why some people with a natural talent for something (e.g. music) are never able to develop that talent very well, while others do (assuming they want to and try to)?

To my observation, here is an absolutely crucial component to be found among the personal traits of those who achieve top-notch development of their natural gifts: you must be able to honestly and accurately criticize yourself. You must be your own harshest critic. And you must nurture this ability so that you become faster and ever more accurate at evaluating how you are progressing. Folks with a talent for something who never become good at self-evaluation will not be able to develop their talent to its fullest potential. Two elements come together here: a highly-tuned self awareness, and humility.

There are many people with a high degree of natural ability to do something who never become great at it because they are too proud to tell themselves when the result is below what it should be. Those who become great are able to tell themselves with brutal honesty when something is not right or is not as good as it could be or should be. They do not accept the status quo from themselves when they know they could do better.
[Update: Here is a good example of this in action from writer and blogger Jennifer Fulwiler]

This subject comes to my mind in the context of being somewhat of a fan of one of those TV cooking shows: Top Chef. The best chefs always have an outstanding ability to evaluate their own food--to know what is wrong as well as what is right with their efforts.

The same is true of great musicians, great athletes, and great artists. The cycling phenomenon Lance Armstrong certainly has many athletic gifts. But, he would never be the legend he is today had he not developed those gifts with a very regimented and exacting program of training during which he was keenly aware of how he was performing, always striving to push himself to his personal best, never accepting a poor effort from himself.

An Olympic-level archer knows when the arrow leaves the bow if something is off with his shot--it doesn't feel quite right. Top musicians are much more critical of their own playing than the vast majority of their audiences. They have a finely developed ear for their music and can hear and feel the subtlest of differences in tone, energy, pitch, etc., in their playing.

It is a sad thing when a person with an especially high level of talent for something sabotages himself with his own blindness. Pride blinds that critical auxiliary gift of astute self-evaluation that all great artists, chefs, musicians, etc. have. If we want to honor God and inspire and exhilarate others with our gifts to the highest degree possible we need humility, self-awareness, and honest self evaluation as constant companions. Helpful toward this end is never to forget that all our gifts come from our Creator. While He wants us to develop our gifts as best we can and use them for the benefit of others, He will not look approvingly upon our efforts when we fail to do so because of the inevitable blindness caused by vainglory. Humility, among other needed virtues, lays a foundation for the fullest unlocking of the beauty latent within our natural talents.