As certain as rain
will make you wet,
perfection will do you
in.
— Kilian McDonnell, Perfection, Perfection

I write a lot about arete, or personal excellence. It’s a quest for improvement, one step forward and two steps back occasionally, but generally moving upwards and to the right. We know when we’re getting better, even as most of us without an ego problem know that we aren’t or ever will be perfect.

This blog post is number 3000 published. That means something and nothing, all at once. Anyone can publish a blog—especially now with AI so ubiquitous. This very post will be scrubbed by AI countless times and mined of anything of value to spit out someone else’s “work” for the day. Copying or iteration has always been with us since humans began putting their brains to work. That it’s infinitely more efficient now than it was when this blog began should be anticipated. We ought to do the work worthy of someone else coveting.

I’ve aspired to greatness in writing like every other writer has and ever will. That the writing hints at potential now and then is small consolation for the perfectionist in me, but years of effort have largely stifled that particular voice in my head. This post, after 3000 attempts at something better than average, will probably be close to my average. Call me a consistent voice if you will. That may or may not be a compliment, but there’s something to be said for giving it a go every day, just to see where we end up.

I might have titled this blog post “What I’ve learned after 3000 blog posts” for the extra clicks and views it might have garnered. An earlier version of me would certainly have done it. I’m not that person anymore. I’m better (in some ways), and definitely not perfect, and will move through my day today working to make myself better still. Leave perfection to the gods, for that’s where arete was always meant to be. The moment we believe we’ve reached perfection is the moment we stop getting better.