Is it innate or just ego to try to achieve what we each consider perfection?

What I really want to wonder is if it’s our survival animal instincts left over that drive people to seek to be better than others or ego? "You're perfect just the way you are" is a lie
And anyone who tells you this doesn't have your best interest at heart.
Complacency is death, and we should strive to be better than what we were yesterday. Nevermind that no one can actually be perfect.
Just to clarify, I'd extend this to all similar "you're amazing/great/awesome/other just the way you are" statements. It implicates complacency and stagnation, which is antithetical to growth and self-improvement.