I am reminded once again of one of my favorite adages, "Progress not Perfection". I tend to struggle with this myself, striving for a "perfect" goal rather than for making progress. An example was when I started going to the gym.
After being a dedicated student and couch potato, I decided to get more fit. When I started the gym I would labor on the treadmill or elliptical machine, pouring sweat, huffing and puffing, and lasting only a few minutes. I looked around at people who were obviously dedicated patrons of the gym and compared myself to them. Naturally my efforts paled by comparison and I only saw how far I had to go. Then I caught myself and "reframed" my perception. In addition to looking at where I wanted to get to I also had to look at where I had come from. Where was I last week? Last month? Six months ago? Compared to that I had greatly improved. Instead of sitting on the couch I was at the gym. I had increased my cardio tolerance and muscle tone already. Comparing myself to myself was much more realistic and helpful than comparing myself to perfection. So I have learned to rephrase the question from, "Am I there yet?" to "Am I better?". This still keeps me motivated to move forward without setting up unrealistic expectations which only demoralize me.