“Perfection does not exist – you can always do better and you can always grow.” Les Brown

Most of us have some sort of goal we are trying to reach, even if we haven’t fully formulated the goal in our mind. We want to try something new, be successful at work or at play…

Sometimes these goals can be a bit vague. You know, in the bigger picture things we want to accomplish, the things we have defined for ourselves as “success”. But sometimes the big picture is so big; we don’t know what steps to take to get us there. The goal can seem overwhelming; we may feel we don’t have the time or the resources or we don’t see what steps we can take to get ourselves there.

We don’t know where to start so we make excuses. Or we don’t start because we think we’ll fail. This is because we set unrealistic expectations and believe that if we’re not perfect in our pursuit, we’re a failure. But we’re human.

We’re imperfect. It’s what makes us each unique. And awesome!

Perfection should never be the goal because the outcome will always be failure. This doesn’t mean we don’t set the bar high. But we focus on progress, not perfection. We focus on the journey, not the destination. We strive for improvement, learning, growth, and understanding.

We strive for excellence, but still allow for imperfection. For the knowledge and comfort that even if we drift off the path for a bit, the path is still within our reach and we’re still heading in the right direction. So where do we start?

To truly make a lasting change, it has to be a change that is meaningful to us, not just to others. It can’t be something we feel is imposed on us rather than chosen by us. It has to be something that we value; that we believe in, that we can commit to because we know the work put in will be worth it.

We have to ask ourselves why we want to make the change. It has to be something that will help us keep putting one foot in front of the other, to keep making progress, when the going gets tough.

To be continued.