It’s a lot like when you’re not being great at something that you want to be great at. Depending on how badly you want it, with practice, you will likely become so excellent at something related to it that no one can compete with your style.
This article is about why hardworking but not-so-perfect learners excel at teaching (and several other professions) as they grow older.
The Not-So-Perfect Learners See What’s Missing
They agonize over what’s missing for the longest time.
Not-so-perfect learners aren’t usually learning at the same pace as most of the class, and they’re usually alone in that gap. As they grow older, many of them decide to make a change about something. Guess what points them in the direction they can make a change? The answer is simple: their understanding of how imperfect they were at certain things in school.
If you’d like, you can trace the stories of some of the greatest teachers, doctors, specialists, writers, actors, entrepreneurs, and so on; you will find that the area in which they’ve become excellent are areas they either wished they were great at in school or wished they could get great at with certain kinds of help. They’re either offering that help they wished for to others who need it, or they set goals, worked hard, and got excellent at those things eventually.
The Trap of Perfectionism
A recent study tried to compare perfectionism from 1989 to 2016. The researchers found that perfectionism is rising among college students graduating by 2016. Their levels of perfectionism are higher than graduates from the 1990s or early-2000s. Here’s where it gets even more interesting: the increase in perfectionism isn’t making them more accomplished than graduates from the 90s and 00s.
Perfectionism is making us sadder and causing us to doubt our own potential.
It is a trap, and sadly, more students are encouraged to “perfect” their learning, language, and writing, literally every skill you can think of. Often, we forget that perfection is not the goal; progress is the goal. Every not-so-perfect learner learns that critical lesson–that progress is always the goal–which gives them an advantage.
Advantage: Not-So-Perfect Learners Learn that Progress is the Goal
Trying to be perfect comes with anxiety. The not-so-perfect learners who have given up on trying to be perfect become liberated from that anxiety. What follows next surprises them…they begin to make progress with everything. This new, anxiety-free perspective opens up to them, showing them how they can complete various tasks now that they’re no longer pressured.
Perfect is pressure. The pressure to remain perfect inevitably becomes destructive for the person. But, not-so-perfect learners are free from that kind of pressure and eventually change things in their environment for the better.
The Not-So-Perfect Learners Often Become the Most Innovative Adults
As you may have read earlier, the not-so-perfect learners are acutely aware of their status. The thing is, they get creative about how they learn. From that creativity, they learn to approach everything about their lives differently. A student with dyslexia gets creative about taking in and retaining new knowledge from their environment. The more times they find a way around learning challenges, their ability to think creatively (or outside the box) increases.
Learning specialists, special education teachers, and other educators who have a record of high impact on their students were not-so-perfect learners that eventually understood something important,
To learn, succeed, and excel, you just need progress (not perfection) from one day to the next. You need to do your best, learn from what you’ve failed at, and go better the next time around.
I hope this article helps you take advantage of being a not-so-perfect learner!