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Hey, disrupters! We’re coming up on the very last of August, but as we wrap up these last golden days of summer, I find myself looking back thinking about all of the things that I have done this summer… Or rather, I find my mind running back and forth actually panicking over the multitude of things that I haven’t finished this summer. There’s the retaining wall around the peony bush… or rather there is the retaining wall that should have been around my peony bush. There are all of the blog posts that I was to have written, and all of the articles that I should have cataloged and submitted for consideration. And what about turning all of my paper files into electronic files in an effort to Go Green? Sheesh! I’m exhausted just thinking about all of this stuff.
Don’t get me wrong, all of these things were well within my ability to do and to complete. No, I have to admit, fellow disrupters, that I have been afflicted with the common malady that strikes probably a majority of people in the world. The ailment called Procrastination. Or in my case, my inability to finish a project because it isn’t perfect – the plan, the conception, the follow through – the difference between the picture in my mind and my end result, well, let’s just say that it wasn’t perfect and because of this imperfection, the tasks sit undone. Still.
“Our need to be perfect is “just fear in really good shoes. But it’s still fear.” Elizabeth Gilbert, Author of Eat, Pray, Love
Elizabeth Gilbert, Author of the blockbuster Eat Pray Love and one of my personal favorites said that perfection and our need to be perfect is “just fear in really good shoes. But it’s still fear.”
Too often, my own fear masquerades as procrastination as my inner perfectionist, in her quest to do everything perfectly, sometimes things just don’t get done. Our inner perfectionists make us feel stuck, especially when we consider making changes or advances in our situation. Our quest for perfection causes any project to end the opposite of what we desire as we spend far too much time doing and redoing even the simplest tasks trying to make things perfect.
The wall that I’d envisioned doesn’t look anything like the wall in the magazine. The unwritten blog posts haven’t jelled yet, they’re not as witty as I would like, or even worse, I find myself comparing my work to the work of others that I have read. And my efforts to Go Green have stalled as I stare in dismay at the sheer amount of paper accumulated in my office. That stuff is not going anywhere anytime soon, trust me.
Those “good shoes” as mentioned by Liz Gilbert grow even tighter and the lack of perfection turns into a lack of action leaves us even more anxious and afraid of presenting ourselves in a way that makes us appear as imperfect, the biggest taboo. We appear to be “not perfect”. But I’ve learned that there is a cure for perfection, a treatment plan if you will that when applied daily and liberally can help to treat the ailment of perfectionism and procrastination.
Four Little Words: No One Is Perfect.
Four little words: No One Is Perfect. Allow these words to soothe you when your “good shoes” of perfectionism have grown tight. Better yet, take them off. Let them go. Let go of the need to be perfect. It’s OK.
Disrupters, give yourself the gift of enjoying this last official weekend of summer basking in the Labor Day Sunshine with little thought of what could have been done or still needs to be done. Leave those good shoes in the car or on the bleachers or in the house. Wiggle your toes and enjoy this brief moment, if only for a moment. Vow to be a little less perfect, a little more you. Relish in being imperfectly, perfectly you.
That’s all for now! Have a great holiday weekend! Go out there and disrupt something!
Trudi Lunnie-Thomas, BA, MA is a Life and Executive Coach for Woman on Fire Coaching and Consulting and Host of the Woman On Fire Radio. Her goal is to help her clients to disrupt the patterns established as part of their Status Quo, the habits, and limitations that control every part of their lives so that they can reclaim who they really are and how to live their lives to the fullest. To continue the conversation, please come over to my blog at www.thearena.online. Thank you and go out and disrupt your Status Quo!
