There is always room for improvement. I get what you're saying, and I used to think that way... What changed my perspective was getting into meditation, and em

There is always room for improvement. I get what you're saying, and I used to think that way... What changed my perspective was getting into meditation, and embracing the idea of awareness and deliberation in every moment, trying to do well every single thing I take up, and not just in programming, but also in cooking, eating, sleeping, walking, speaking, thinking, seeing, peeing, pooping, etc. There is always room for improvement, space and time to do it "just right", what is in Russian called "sovestno", meaning "without shame and in good faith". The closest approximation I can think of in English is "consciensiously". Once I started thinking this way, my perception of banality and repetitiveness fell away. No task is banal, no task is a repetition, but each one is unique, and must be perceived as such. Once you see it that way, you'll begin to find room for improvement everywhere. I think it has helped me a great deal in becoming better at programming. (See also: Bruce Lee, 10000 kicks quote.)