In my experience nobody fretted about grades and minor grading issues more than the folks who had high marks.

The burden of perfection (or close to it) is pretty brutal.

Among other topics the film Gattaca seemed to address that issue.

Like worrying about the first tiny scratch on your new car or new phone. Eventually it happens, you feel bad, but then are free from the burden of perfection.

One of the nice things about buying used. Not only do you get the discount, but you also don't need to worry about that perfection.

I have bought a lot of my kids toys second hand. "Yeah whatever throw that thing and see what happens!"

The effect is also strengthened when you're competing with your peers for grades; it's been several decades now but I still remember someone beating me by 0.7% going into the final exam, and me finishing the course 0.1% ahead of him. It's interesting I still remember the differences, but not the grade (high 90s, probably) nor the course.

(Contrary to popular western culture, there are groups who enjoy "grade-racing" --- and from first-hand experience, I can say it was very motivational as well as stressful.)

Taking the "good enough" approach in life has probably left a lot of potential on the table, but it really has gotten the maximal utility out of any work I put in. It's probably ~50%-100% more work to go from a B+ in life to a straight A.

The opportunity costs can be profound as well. Doing B rather than A level work on many tasks can allow you to get 2-3x more things done.

I was that guy in college. It's an OCD-triggering experience, looking at the transcript. Can confirm that it's not a good feeling.

I got a distinction for my masters thesis, but my exam results where such that I was 1-2% off from a distinction overall. I was not happy that day!

That was me. I wasn’t happy at all after I got 2nd.