My message this week is simple:
Lighten up. Aim for excellence not perfection.
I will be the first to admit, I need to drink my own Kool-Aid on this one from time to time as intensity and discipline are two things I was most certainly at the front of the line for.
That said, I’ve been pathetically slacking on my blog the last two weeks.
I dropped the ball.
Rather than dwell on what I didn’t do, I’m going to focus on the positives and personal growth something like this can teach me.
That’s right, I’m going to 100% let myself off the hook for not posting and not even think twice about it. Yeah I’m allowing myself a free pass on not being disciplined. Why? Because missing a blog post or two, or a workout from time to time, is not that big of deal.
Expecting your friends, business partner or significant other to be perfect all the time? It’s going to be a long lonely road…
Is the secret of happiness low expectations? Not exactly, but striving for excellence, rather than perfection, brings the best out of us without letting a misstep or ten discourage us.
I started this blog back in August of 2010, August 24th to be precise. I vowed to blog every single Tuesday and be as consistent as possible. For the first couple months I didn’t miss a beat and posted a blog every single Tuesday. Perfection felt amazing but it came at a price.
There were nights and weeks when I didn’t plan ahead enough and often found myself scrambling to post my blog in the minutes before midnight. This post is a perfect example (and a flashback to me with a fro). Those nights usually came with unnecessary stress and anxiety. In hindsight, all the stress was from pressure I put on myself to perform and keep a promise, nothing else. Would it have made a difference to post Wednesday morning instead of Tuesday night? Probably not.
I’m happy to say during the last two weeks when I haven’t posted my blog, I haven’t felt an ounce of stress or guilt for not blogging, which for me equates to personal growth.
I’m learning to lighten up. Acceptance. See the big picture.
Taking a closer look….this is the 92nd Tuesday since I’ve started blogging. Today’s post marks my 88th post. I’ve been successful in posting 95% of the time (88/92 weeks). That’s good enough for me as I am striving for excellence NOT perfection.
It’s refreshing to look in the mirror, see the bigger picture and learn to accept my mistakes and move on. My goal here is to form a community of like-minded readers and provide insights, stories and lessons from my own life to help you live a happier, healthier, more successful life. Missing a week or two is not the end of the world. I’m human too.
So while you pursue your goals and life ambitions, I’d encourage you to lighten up.
Strive for excellence, NOT perfection.
Take a look at the bigger picture. Focus on progress, not perfection!
“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”
-Vince Lombardi
Until next week, keep learning & stay positive!
On a related side note, I started P90x yesterday.
P90X is a 13 week home work out consisting of intense training six days a week. I will be rereading this post to remind myself that missing a day or two is not the end of the world as my goal is excellence and getting in better shape, not perfection.
