Monday, January 16, 2012

Motivation Monday: Don't Wait for Perfect Conditions

Hello, my name is Jennifer and I am a recovering perfectionist.
I have never, ever liked to try things that I didn't know I would succeed at.
One of the things that holds me back the most is that I tend to wait for the "perfect conditions" before I jump into things.

Which is why I lovelovelove this:

The truth is that idea of the perfect condition is a myth.
There will never be the right time.
You may never feel prepared enough.
There will always be something that holds you back (mostly yourself).

Waiting to find the right time, or the right situation, or until you have enough in your bank account, or when the kids are done with school - these are all excuses that paralyze us from action and sabotage our potential.  Sometimes you just have to stop waiting for the right circumstances and jump in with both feet!

I actually started this blog to help me get over my own perfectionist issues.

I wanted to get back into writing for a long time.  I would get these bursts of inspiration where I would get all gung-ho to write.  I would buy a beautiful new journal, create a place in my office just for writing, and schedule time every day to write.  I would write for a few days, but then life would slowly creep in and the excuses would flow.
     "I'm working late tonight, I'll try to write tomorrow."
     "I need to come up with a great idea for a book before I can start."
     "My desk is a mess, I can't write until I clean it off."
     "I must wait until the spirit moves me to write."
     "I'm too tired today."
     "My writing isn't good enough, maybe I should take a class first."
Skipping one day would lead to a few days in a row, and pretty soon I stopped writing altogether.

I realized that without accountability, real or perceived, I would never maintain a consistent practice.  So I set up this blog, and promised myself to publish a post every. single. day.  Busy or not, inspired or not, crappy writing or not, just WRITE!  As a recovering perfectionist, do I look at some of my blog posts and wish they were better?  Definitely.  But am I glad I published all 54 of them so far?  Abso-freakin-lutely!
....................
What have you been putting off, waiting for the perfect conditions?

No comments:

Post a Comment