Persistent Pursuit of Perfection Part 1: The Building Blocks of Success
This is part one of a series of blogs that I will publish on a phrase that I live by and preach: the Persistent Pursuit of Perfection.
As some people read the title of this blog, they may think that the idea of perfection is narcissistic or toxic. Hold that thought and hear me out. When I coach people using this phrase, there is always context behind it. The context is my own personal growth journey that helped me get where I am today.
The story begins with my parents. They showed and taught me strong work ethic from a very early age. As immigrants to the US from China in their early 20s, they had to work very hard just to make ends meet. They did their best to provide a better life for my brother and me. This work ethic is something that I noticed day in and day out. It was most most evident in my Dad, who worked restaurant jobs most of my life. Growing up, he was always out the door before I woke up, and came home when I was already in bed. This sacrifice to provide for us is something I didn’t quite understand as a young boy who saw how all of his peers had their father present at school and sports events. My Mom worked hard in her own way, learning English and working her way up from bank teller to private wealth management. I was aware enough to remember the difficult financial times that my parents had early in my life and saw that grow into a comfortable middle class lifestyle. While I didn’t notice or appreciate all of this in my youth, thinking back on it, this work ethic rubbed off on me in a subliminal way and would shape the person that I would become. Thanks Mom and Dad for teaching and showing me that hard work does pay off.
As a young immigrant in a new country juggling a job and being a parent, my Mom sought ways to help raise me with the help of the community. As soon as the first grade, my Mom enrolled me in a Big Brothers Big Sisters of America program. All the big brothers and big sisters in these programs were student volunteers that attended local Boston colleges and universities. I don’t remember too much from my first grade big brother but in the second grade, the big brother who was assigned to me changed my life forever. Right now, he is known as Dr. Joshua Silverstein, MD, but to me, he’s always just been Josh, my Big Brother. I remember taking the MBTA with him from my house to go to various places like the Museum of Science, Celtics, Red Sox and Terriers games. He was a medical student at the time at Boston University. I’m so fortunate that he liked me so much that he requested to be assigned to me again in the third grade. Since then, Josh has gone on to do many things in many places around North America. We even kept in touch as pen pals with hand written letters while he was away in the early 2000s. We’ve been there for each other when we lost people in our lives. We’ve been there for each other for the birth of our children. Thank you Josh for being the Big Brother I never had, for keeping me on the right path and inspiring me to be the best person I can be.
President Eisenhower once said “Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in the blood of his followers and the sacrifices of his friends.” I think this quote best describes how I feel about my Mom, Dad and Josh. They were the building blocks of my persistent pursuit of perfection, my relentless drive to be the best person that I can be.
