Music and perfectionism often go hand-in-hand, don't they?

In music school, we're trained to pursue excellence, to strive to be the best. We're taught to set high standards for ourselves, to work hard, and live up to the high standards our teachers have for us.

The thing is, there are two sides to perfectionism.

The value of perfectionism is that it's a commitment to achieving at a high level. But the cost of perfection is a crippling fear of failure, an unwillingness to try new things, negative self-talk, and an unrelenting pursuit of something that may not always be attainable. In fact, it might not even exist.

Today, I want to share a story about a former student — a 2nd-grader in his second year of lessons. This happened a few years ago but I still think back to our lesson that day and wonder what happened in his life leading up to that moment and what's happened in his life since then.

For show notes + full transcript, click here.

Related resources:

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through some of these links.

The Pros and Cons of Perfectionism, According to Research (Harvard Business Review)

The Gifts of Imperfection (Brené Brown)

Ep. 012 - How to Develop Musicianship in Those You Teach

Sweet Molly Malone (arr. Eklund)

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