Over the past few months, I’ve been kicking myself for not blogging like I wanted to. My inbox is full of completed and almost completed post that I’m sure would be of interest to many. Between studying the words of some of the greats, such as Earl Nightingale, Jim Rohn, Russell Conwell and Darren Hardy, and putting into practice the advice that each of these individuals give however, I was stuck trying to make sure the information that I provided to you was perfect. Despite Tim Ferris’s great advice that one great post monthly is better than two or three satisfactory posts per months, the fear of not being perfect kept me from posting at all. If there was anything that I have learned during my time of study it has been that action will get you further than inaction.
Over the past couple of months, here is what I’ve learned:
- Waiting for perfection will get you nowhere! Michael Hyatt, in one of his blog posts, said that even he had to start to settle on good enough rather than perfect. Of course, you have to go through your work and make sure it looks professional, but, the longer you sit on it. the less like it is that you will make any additional progress. He told his listeners that sometimes you have to get over the fear of making a mistake, and just put it out there. The feedback that people give, on your mistakes will help you to improve.
- Take frequent breaks! Burn-out will keep you from accomplishing your goal every time. I can’t tell you how many times I tried to start on a project or a workout routine but never actually complete the entire thing. I put so much into it in the beginning but never gets fully finished. While training for a marathon, I was reminded that slow and steady will finish the race. If you’ve worked on something constantly for nights on end and have not made any headway, put it down, do something else and come back to it later. The clarity of thought will help you have a new perspective.
- And Finally, Just go for it! One of the very first podcasts that I started listening to said, If you do it, and no one is going to die, then just do it. Sometimes, we really need to put things into perspective. What is the harm in trying? Sometime,s we have a huge fear of failing and succeeding, that it causes us to be stagnant. We are caught in a loop of wanting to succeed, but at the same time being scared of that same success or failure. The one thing that I’ve found for sure is if you do nothing you definitely will not succeed at it. If no one is going to die, then just go for it.
What finished project have you been sitting on? has the fear of failing, been keeping you for moving forward? What about the fear of succeeding? Is that stopping you from taking any action? We must all stop looking at failure as the end result. Failure is merely the tool that life uses to tell you to try again. So take a breather and just go for it!
Corey Stokes 