Perfection: the Enemy of Progress?
- Nichelle Rogers
- Nov 3, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 3, 2022
Is there something stopping you from taking that next step? Something keeping you from completing a passion project? Here's how I found perfection in progress.
DivaDork LLC was created in 2020, but I just got to actually designing and selling products over 2 years later! I had to ask myself...What's that all about? Why aren't you moving on this passion project? Why aren't you sharing your talents with the community around you? What's holding you back???
The answer was so simple, but it took a very close friend to help call it out: Perfection. I was so focused on being perfect. I needed this thing in place. I needed that issue to be resolved. I wanted these products to look a certain way. I couldn't possibly go-live without all the pieces in perfect, precise places. What would my friends and family think of me if I didn't have this business in tip-top shape? Two years later, I got the answer I needed:
Don't focus on perfection, but rather focus on progress.
MIND BLOWN! What an awesome perspective, and looking back, I feel like I should have been able to see it. So simple, but so profound! Oh, but for my W.E.M. - Worst Enemy Moment. You know, the moments we have in our quiet space where we critically judge everything about ourselves. Where every nook and cranny of imperfections are called out and used to devalue and demean who we are meant to be. We don't need enemies because we can knock our own confidence off of the pedestal it's meant to be on. My W.E.M. kept me from pursuing who I am meant to be. My W.E.M. said I wasn't good enough, smart enough, creative enough, etc.
Thankfully, my friend's sound logic snapped me out of a mature (but soggy, teary-eyed meltdown) and shed the light I needed to get moving. Side note: find your support system so they can pick you up when your W.E.M. gets you down.
Focusing on Progress
We've all heard of setting SMART goals:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-bound
What SMART goals do is help you focus on progress, while keeping the end goal in sight. They bring your attention to the little wins that you can celebrate and use to invigorate the path forward when things look dim. It is the perfect "focus on progress" set up, in my mind. It's all about creating a plan you can follow, see success, and secure the big win. But this post isn't about SMART goals, it's about you, me, and fighting the normal idea of perfection that causes us to stall. Because perfection isn't all bad, is it?
Perfection in Our Progress
How do you find perfection in progress? I guarantee where there is progress, there is also failure. Where there is progress, there are also mistakes. Where there is progress, there is anxiety, fear, and doubt. Progress comes in the moments we decide and act to move past the things that hold us hostage.
Let's think of it this way: Would you be who you are today without the good, bad, and ugly happening in your life? But there you are...a masterpiece. Imperfectly perfect. Same goes with moving forward with our passion to find progress. We use the errors to grow. We use failures to shift course and learn a new path. Anxiety, fear, and doubt are all forms of negative mental energy that we can convert to positive mental energy for strength, confidence, and power.
Here's another example. I love to watch NFL football (go Broncos!) and something I've noticed is that after every play, the players on the field pat each other on the back or high five. After EVERY PLAY. Whether it's to celebrate the progress down the field, which is sometimes only 1-2 yards, or encourage one another after a loss on the play. Progress and loss, but mostly progress towards the end zone. It's not always a perfect drive, but when they score at the end...there was some perfection in their progress.
Our progress is perfection because we didn't stop.
Our progress is perfection because we came out on the other side newly improved.
Our progress is perfection because We. ARE. STILL. HERE!
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