There is an important difference between having an ideal and making a rule to live by. The ideal may be a perfect standard that one would be proud to achieve. Such an ideal provides you with a guide, but it should not be a daily standard. Making the ideal into a rule is setting a trap for yourself. If you constantly fall into the trap, you feel so bad about yourself that it becomes increasingly difficult to keep going. The rule needs to direct you toward the ideal. It also needs to be realistic so that you do not lose your self-confidence. That is why it makes more sense to do the best you can — rather than try to be perfect.