In pursuit of perfection

My biggest worry is getting everything right in anything! I have tried time and time again to work on it. Like when I get on a new machine, I type the Hello World program, hoping to get it right the first time. Simple program, nothing as complicated as the others I write otherwise.....should be a piece of cake......But then I find the compiler screams out...the problem it seems is something to do with not including the path of the compiler in my $PATH variable. And just like that, I could not even get "Hello World" running on the first try!!
Have a lot of trouble regarding this.....back in school and college it was cool to know the method and the answers but make careless errors. However, slowly the world is getting more and more unforgiving....mistakes are being punished more severely than ever before. The stakes are getting higher. There have been numerous debated on hitting home runs vs singles. In the McKinsey Mind, the author makes a case that hitting singles is far better than home runs (at least if you are at McKinsey) because home runs raise the expectation and then disappoint. Well, looks like I am a home run hitter. And looks like consultancy is not my cup of tea in that case. To me, it looks more like home run hitters belong to the world of venture capital (not entrepreneurship, because you work on only one idea and have to get it right). The problem with that of course is the lack of money :P It is after all what the VC gets to the table :|
The only other options are to look at improving on this elusive skill others call perfection or to remain in an insignificant position where mistakes don't matter. And since the later is not looking like much of a pick up line.....any suggestions on the former?? Anyone??