Progress Over Perfection

I’m not quite ready yet.

Now isn’t really a good time.

It’s not perfect.

It’s been done before.

I have nothing new or unique to offer.

I’m just repeating things I’ve already said.

Have you ever said any of these things to yourself? Do any of them feel familiar?

Perfectionism is one of the easiest traps to fall into that stops us from moving forward toward our goals. It stops us from sharing our talents and gifts with the world and it’s extra sneaky because it often masquerades as something useful. It makes us believe we’re waiting so that we can put something truly great out into the world, but the truth is that while we’re waiting, we’re not putting anything out into the world. We’re not serving anyone because we’re not actually sharing anything.

We all do this.

As I write these words, my own perfectionism is taking the form of that voice in my head asking, “Will this even benefit anyone? I’ve said some variation of this a million times and so have a million other people, so maybe I shouldn’t add to the noise. Do these words even make sense? Maybe this blog post sucks and people won’t even get what I’m trying to say. Maybe I should wait until I have something more to say and post it later.” That voice wants me not to share these words because it’s unlikely that they will meet any standard of perfection.

That voice, as it turns out, isn’t really that helpful. As a matter of fact, it’s kind of a jerk. Remember what your mom told you to do with jerks? Ignore them and they’ll go away.

So buh-bye, unhelpful voice in my head, I have no time for you.

Progress vs. Perfection

If you’re seeing this, you likely have picked up on the fact that I own a business.

Owning a business can be S-C-A-R-Y. Especially at the beginning.

It's messy and takes a lot of trial and error. It takes a lot of trying things that don’t work to figure out the things that do.

That means failure.

You know what failure is NOT? Perfect. It is not even close to perfect. The two words-failure and perfect- don’t even make sense in the same sentence because they stand for totally opposite ideas.

I’m human, so I’ve wanted my business to be perfect.

I’m human, so my business has never, ever been perfect.

I’ve had ideas that haven’t worked and launched programs that fell flat. And I’ve learned valuable lessons every single time.

Because here’s the real truth- perfection isn’t only unattainable (I mean- what does that even really mean? Who defines what’s perfect?) but it’s not actually helpful or even all that interesting.

Now progress on the other hand…that’s interesting stuff.

Progress means there’s growth happening. Progress means movement and learning and creativity.

Progress requires commitment and stick-to-it-iveness, even when things are messy and uncomfortable. It means looking at failures as opportunities for change rather than excuses for giving up.

If we really want to grow, then over and over we have to repeatedly let go of perfectionism and reach instead for progress.

If you are anything like me, you’ll catch yourself holding back from time to time, you’ll catch yourself stuck in perfectionism. That’s okay. It’s totally fine. When you catch it, just give yourself whatever nudge you need to shake yourself out of it so that you can hop back over to progress instead.

I’ve taken to writing the words, “Progress Over Perfection” on my mirror. I like the daily reminder while I brush my teeth and wash my face.

To choose growth. To take chances and learn from failure. To keep sharing because it’s not my job to decide whether people benefit from my work, it’s my job to put my work and my gifts out into the world in case anyone needs to hear what I have to say, in case anyone is served by the work I come to with dedication. It’s my job to put it out there even when it’s imperfect or I’m afraid. Because there is a chance that it will serve someone and that is why I do what I do. That is how I continue to grow toward the best version of myself.

I don’t know what “perfection” really means.What does it look like? I’m not sure I would even recognize it. It’s not really the point anyway.

What I do know is that we are meant to live and grow, to create, and to trust our inner guidance system to the very best of our ability. To keep doing the things we love and working to keep our actions in alignment with our values. The ideas will come. So will the experiences that help us grow. And that’s progress.

So let go of your perfectionism any time you spot it and instead keep moving toward progress. We can do it!

Leave me a comment and tell me about a perfection that you’ve let go of or progress that happened as a result of putting something out into the world even if it wasn’t perfect! Let’s inspire each other!