I took a workshop this weekend and the presenter said something that struck me right at my core. “Done is better than perfect. Perfect along the way.” The second sentence has an emphasis on the second syllable of perfect – looks the same when written, but sounds different when you say it. I have spent much of my life trying to get things perfect before I implement them. No more, well, probably not as often.
How many times have you stayed in the creation phase of a project or the thinking about phase and not actually completed that project? For me that looks something like this – I have an idea for a workshop. I pick the perfect date. Then I need to find a venue and of course it has to be perfect. Then I think about it some more. And…then I decide that I’d better figure out a different date. The reality is that it doesn’t have to be the perfect date, the perfect place, the perfect marketing for the perfect topic. All it really has to be is done! And then learn from that workshop and change it for the next one.
What is that perfection gene linked to for you? For some people it is fear of not being good enough, for others it is fear of true success, for yet others it is linked to fear of people not liking you if you rock the boat. Those fears stop us in work, in relationships, in every day life, etc. Pretty much everywhere, from jumping in and being the fullness of who we really are. What would change for you if you used the statement, done is better than perfect, to guide you when you are stuck?
This year one of my mantras is going to be – Done is better than perfect. And, then I will create changes as I go along. Today I saw a tree full of robins, which anyone who lives in Chicago knows is really unusual in January. In fact, I can’t remember ever seeing a robin in January before. I posted the picture at the beginning of this post on my facebook page and on twitter. Now, here’s the “done is better than perfect” part. You can’t see the robins really clearly, but you get the idea and the wonder of robins in Chicago in January. So rather than thinking I couldn’t post this fun moment because I didn’t have a really good picture I simply clicked and posted.
That is a very simple example of done is better than perfect – not much angst attached to it. I think the mantra of “done is better than perfect” also applies to things that you have agonized over and held back from doing. I am going to do an experiment and see how many things I can do this week, even though they are not perfect. How about you?
PS I just had to chuckle at myself. I almost didn’t post this. I was going to think about it some more and see if there was some way I could say more or could say it better. I decided that I could always say more and that I could also say it in a different post. So, here is my first done is better than perfect of the week.
I like!!!