How To Succeed Without Being Perfect -

The relationship between success and perfection has always baffled me. Growing up in a US American public school system in the 90s, it was instilled in me from an early age that getting a good grade was the most important aspect of education. The higher the grade, the more success, right? Well, if that wasn’t the intention they really missed the mark because for a majority of my formative years it seemed like perfect grades= happy life, anything less was just not good enough. It didn’t matter what material was being covered, what lessons were meant to be learned, all that mattered was what mark came across my desk. I came to learn that there are a lot of other things that implore us to put our worth into some ultimately meaningless measure of achievement. Therefore, Ive made it my mission, and it is on ongoing mission, to try to untangle myself from these perfectionist perimeters, and embrace the growth from what is actually happening in my life. Here are a few things that have helped me along this journey of how to succeed without being perfect.

Set Realistic Goals For Success

Okay, ideally we would be able to just mindfully experience life in the moment without having to focus so heavily on setting goals and anxiously awaiting what is to come. But I’ve found that is easier said than done. Most of us are still going to be goal driven and thrive best with a set purpose in mind and a tangible goal to work towards. I’ve come to accept this and work to embrace this aspect of life. However, the one thing that I think we can do to help us have a little more wiggle room to be able to experience life authentically during this process is to make sure that our goals are realistic. Do the things you are working towards make sense in your life right now? Does the plan fit well in your current lifestyle? What about timing? Do you have the time it takes to work on said goal in the way that you are aiming? Do you have the resources on hand? When we modify our goals to make sense with our lives, we are not settling nor compromising. We are simply outlining what is true and accepting what is within our reach. Its not like we are throwing everything out the window. We can always revisit our goals and plans in the future.

Value Progress Over Perfection

Its also imporant to shift our mindset to valuing progress over perfection. One of the biggest things I have taken away from my journey is to make sure to actually soak in the growth and progress that we experience. When goals become more about achieving something versus learning and absorbing new information and experiences, we can end up missing out on the whole point. We tend to do this alot. Think about it- how many times do we study just to pass a test without even caring about what was actually on it? Its important to make sure that your end goal actually accomplishes what you set out to do in the first place.

Putting It All Together

All of this to say, perfection can be a real detriment to sucess. Its important to try to stay in the moment and within the experience so that we can actually learn and grow in a way that is fruitful and meaningful, regardless of the level of perfection we accomplished trying to get there. True sucess is about authentic growth within our authentic and reasonable goals.

For a deeper dive, check out my Self-Care 101 teachable couse : Taking The Self-Shame Out Of Self-Care