Not too long ago, an actor said their goal was to give about 75 percent. They later clarified that some of the remaining percent was sleep, family, other things in their life.
But I keep thinking about 75 percent. Because I know I grew up being told that 75 percent was a C, it meant I knew some stuff but not enough, and should work harder.
And yet in practice, trying to be an A+ human, and A+ friend, an A+ sibling, an A+ employee, it's just not possible. Trying to be good more often than you are not on multiple axes is actually a lot.
Some had found a quote that was attributed to Idina Menzel where she said she wanted to hit all her notes perfectly each night, but that the best performances came when you focused on the moment, and listened to your fellow cast members and even the audience. And so, hitting most of the notes, like 75 percent, and focusing more on reacting to what was happening made for better performances.
Look, have I ever reached back out to someone and been like, so actually that was wrong, here's better info? Yes? Did I hate it? Yes. Was I trying to do my best, and acknowledging that I can't always do that? Also yes.
Life isn't really a test. We have sayings about giving 110% which is not even how percents work. So 75% seems like not enough. But if 3/4 times I reached out to a friend for help and they showed up, that's an amazing friend. That's enough.
