Progress over Perfection

With this whole blog thing being new to me, I was trying to figure out what my next post would be. I went back and forth until the phrase, "Progress over Perfection" came to mind. See I tell myself this all the time, because I am a recovery perfectionist. I used to stress so much over things being just perfect. That is one of the reasons it has taken me years to finally just start this blog. It has been a source of Joy killing many times in my life because of this. I have thoughts and ideas that come to mind, and then the perfectionist gets in the way and then the self doubt would creep in. EVERYTIME!!! Ugh! 

So many things have been affected by this. Some in good ways and some in ways that I allowed good things to pass by. I remember hearing or seeing a quote that went along the lines of, "Forget perfect, go for for the progress. It will still be progress." Example they used was making the bed every morning. It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be done. Now the quote was obvisously more profoundly said than that, but that gives you the point. Something else that has helped me was coming across another blogger who stated that you don't know what you don't know until you start.

Wow! Between those two statements I am grateful that it was what I needed to finally push through and start to rewire the perfectionist brain mindset. There have been old patterns and behaviors that I have had to work towards overcoming and still working through in order to get to this place, but boy I am so grateful to be here. How many things in life have you held yourself back from because it just wasn't the perfect image of what was in your head? Has it stopped you from moving towards your dreams? 

I have had to sit and still have to sit sometimes with those questions and truly ask myself what I wanted. Did I want to live in perfection or did I want to live in a way that honors my inner vision of myself and my life? What can I control in order to make those visions come into fruition? For me as a recovering perfectionist the first thoughts I would go to is ALL the work I would need to do which then caused overwhelm at ALL the ALLS. Now I am grateful that I just start and know it will all work in the way it is meant to.

I have had to also realize that perfection has nothing to do with your intent and putting your all into whatever it might be. What I realized is that the intention I have behind the action is what matters. As long as I do it with love, compassion, integrity, and to the best I know I could do, I am at peace with that and I choose to leave the rest behind.

Going back to the making the bed reference, I now make my bed every morning as a way to honor the steps I am taking to bring my inner visions to fruition. Before I would think to myself, why make the bed I am just going to crawl into and mess up in a few hours? Now I understand that isn't what it is about and grateful to have a perspective shift. For me, it really means that I am taking one small step even if it isn's perfect, it is an action step in the right direction of what I vision. This is now how I remind myself that progress over perfection is still movement in getting me where I want to be. It is the push I need to just start along with the reminder that I am also building better patterns and behaviors that will ultimately lead me to my goals.

Today, I have chosen to push through perfection and move foward with progress. I am grateful for that progress and truly hope that this may help others out there to move towards all that you know you deserve in this life. You are amazing and so worth it!

Much Love and Light Always!