An Imperfect Post

I’ve been trying to write this blog post all day. It’s the beginning of the month and the start of the Ultimate Blog Challenge—where I write 30 posts in 30 days. I’ve been doing this challenge for several years and love it, so I’m not sure why I’m having so much trouble getting started.

And then it dawned on me. I wanted the post to be perfect. Look where that idea got me. It’s 9:30 pm, and I’m just writing this post now.

Someone once told me that practice makes perfect, but I don’t think it’s true.

Practice doesn’t make perfect; it makes you better. Perfection is unattainable unless perhaps the thing you are trying to be perfect at is the ONLY thing you are doing. If I spent all day every day practicing piano, I’d be perfect. But I’m sure I’d still slip up now and then due to performance anxiety or an acute case of carpal tunnel syndrome.

We are all human, after all. Mistakes come with the territory.

So, I’m writing this post to break up with perfectionism. I wish I could say it has been a good run, but it has only brought me depression, anxiety, and fear. Not to mention procrastination.

I just want to be better than before. I’d rather see improvement than be impeccable. I prefer to learn instead of be letter-perfect. Where is the personal and professional growth if everything I do is flawless?

Salvador Dali once said, “Have no fear of perfection. You will never reach it.” I think this is Dali’s way of giving me permission to fail while encouraging me to keep going. This is so much better advice than practice makes perfect.

And it got me to write today’s post. 🙂

XO,
Elisa