Excellence is knowing where another five percent matters.

Not everything deserves the extra effort, and pouring the same care into every detail is a way of running out of energy before reaching the things that matter. The judgment is in knowing which parts change the outcome and which merely satisfy your own perfectionism. Excellence is selective rather than uniform.

Before your next round of polishing, ask which specific parts of the work will actually be experienced by whoever uses it. Put the extra effort there and let the rest be adequate. That allocation is what separates high standards from wasted hours.