Ideals Are Not Standard

What is the difference between ideal & standard?

Ideal is satisfying one's conception of what is perfect; most suitable, desirable or perfect.

Standard is a level of quality or attainment, also used or accepted as normal or average.

I’ll give you examples.

A 4.0 CGPA is ideal, while a 2.0 CGPA is standard.

A monthly salary of 20k is ideal, while a monthly salary of 2k is standard

A grave danger will come upon us if we started to treat ideals as standard.

As a women, I use to hear this a lot in the feminist perspective, where a woman should not obey to the beauty standards, which are more like ideals than standards. And, whether you are a feminist or not, I bet you can understand & agree with this statement.

But, expanding that, we can also see that this applies to all aspects of our lives, not just beauty.

There are reasons why standards are standards, and ideals are ideals. We cannot mix the two of them together. In fact, the word 'ideal standard' is oxymoronic. (I'm not referring to the bathroom brand)

I’ll give you examples, from the previous examples.

A 4.0 CGPA is ideal, while a 2.0 CGPA is standard.

Which means, someone getting CGPA below than 2.0 is perceived as not competent enough for the degree that he is studying. He may need to reconsider of quitting to take another degree, or to get job, or working extra hard.

Someone getting CGPA above 2.0 is perceived as competent enough for the degree that he is studying. Which means, he has enough knowledge & skills for the degree.

Someone getting a… let’s say a 3.60 CGPA is an ideal. Which means, this person’s knowledge & skills are very excellent for the degree. It’s good for him to get a 3.60, but it’s not an obligation. His obligation is to pass beyond 2.0.

A monthly salary of 20k is ideal, while a monthly salary of 2k is standard

If someone’s monthly salary is below 2k when his monthly living cost exceed 2k, this means that he does not achieve the standard. As a result, he may become poor and does not live the standard living.

If someone’s monthly salary is more than 2k when his monthly living cost is 2k, this means that he achieves the standard. As a result, he can live well within his means.

If someone’s monthly salary is 20k when his monthly living cost is only 2k, this means that he is very rich & live well beyond the standard living. It’s good for him to get 20k per month, but it’s not an obligation. His obligation is to pass beyond 2k.

Another perspective of this: everyone’s standard is different.

Again, I’ll take the previous example.

A 2.0 CGPA is a standard for most degrees, thus results such as 3.50 is a bliss.

But not in the medical degree, where 3.0 or 3.5 is considered the standard. Which means, getting a result below 3.0 or 3.5 will make you fail.

Why? I assure you this is not a bias. Being in the medical field and being a doctor requires you to master the skills at the most highest level, because you are working with people’s lives. So, it is not surprising that the standard is higher.

A monthly salary of 2k is a standard, thus a monthly salary of 20k is considered very, very wealthy.

But if you are a father with 5 children with ill-terminal diseases, where hospital is your almost second home, 20k per month may be considered as the standard. Just a few hundred below 20k may impact your children significantly

Can you see now?

So, in terms of self-improvement, for us to improve ourselves without treating the ideals as standard, here’s what you need to do.

I’ll divide this into 2 situation:

Situation A: Where you really need to improve certain aspects in your life.

1. Identify where you are realistically in aspects of life.

2. Identify which aspect of life that you think ‘below the standard’, and work on improving that.

Example; your salary is below the standard, so you try to improve by cutting unnecessary expenses, or by finding a part-time job.

3. Identify which aspect of life that you think ‘achieve the standard’, and maintain that.

Example; your relationship with people is satisfying, so you maintain that.

4. Identify which aspect of life that you think ‘well beyond the standard’, and utilize them to help you to improve yourself.

Example; your knowledge about certain fields are amazing, so you find your way around to monetize them (appropriately (of course)).

Situation B: Where you want to improve in life (in general)

Make the ideals as motivation, then make the standard as your goal. Then, after you pass the standard, gradually increase both the ideals & standard. In this way, your performance will increase gradually too.

In our life, we will meet both situations and we will need to use both methods.

The main point is, ideals are not standards.

Treat ideals as ideals, and treat standards as standards.

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