Is improvement a healthy goal?

As a performer myself I like to think that I’m getting more adept at some skills. As a frequent audience member of live theater and dance there have certainly been artists I’ve wished would improve. There are myriad offerings from schools, theater companies, agencies, and the like offering classes, workshops, and seminars promising to help the artist improve her craft. These classes wouldn’t exist if there were no interest. The conclusion I come away with is that artists, and here I’m speaking of performing artists, are widely and frequently focused on getting better. So I wonder should the goal of a performing artist be constant improvement? It’s clear that improving oneself is considered a worthy goal in the United States. The very unscientific process of perusing the bookshelves at a local Barnes and Noble reveals a great deal more self-help books encouraging change for the better than those of the I’m Okay, You’re Okay variety. And I recently learned that Spanx now makes a girdle for men. Which may not cause actual improvement but it’s certainly meant to present the idea of a reduced waistline. (If you’re not familiar with Spanx ask any woman you’ve ever met.) Artists are a reflection of their context. All of this striving to be better has to bleed into not only the work of living our loves but also the work we are creating. Particularly because a great many artists lack strong divisions between who they are as a person and who they are as an artist. Myself included. So it’s natural that some desire to always improve be present in our work. But that desire is often unrealistic and potentially destructive. I find myself telling my five-year-old daughter to work hard and do her best all the time. Just last night I got to watch her in the Circus Juventas youth circus Spring show. After she did her swing on the tiny trapeze and somersault I hugged her and told her she did a great job. Maybe she didn’t do the best somersault or she fell off the balance beam but I didn’t tell her she would do a better job in the next performance. Saying you’ll do better next time has the baggage of you could have done better. So why is that so often the way I assess my own performance? As a professional artist it is important to be honest and aware about whether or not you are reaching the level of quality you should. And a desire to improve is not necessarily a bad thing. But can success and improvement as an artist come simply from always working hard and always doing your best? Can good work come with a minimal amount of self-criticism?