My last blog was emailed to my mailing list and as I pressed the button I thought I had done a good job, watching the MailChimp monkey hand descend on the big red button with satisfaction.
Later that day I received a supportive and kind email from Emma Langridge of Bramley Solutions, a colleague who offers training in all kinds of business process software, including MailChimp.
Emma pointed out that I had addressed my email Hello [NAME], of course I had intended for the name of the recipient to appear after Hello. She even sent me a short video explaining how to correct it. Hopefully, my next email will be right. Thank you Emma!
Over the last few weeks, I have been stretching myself and extending my comfort zone by appearing in a video in my blog about my fear of being on a boat. Venturing into video and posting it publicly has been a challenge. It’s easy to be self-critical and to compare with others. The negative voice that we all have can be prolific in trying to put us down. I am no different to you in that.
So actually not putting the name of the recipient in my email seemed like a minor thing – although annoying – and this leads me to think about context. In the scheme of things, my mistake was minor. Actually it’s probably quite irrelevant to many people and not even noticed by some. The fact that I am even putting content out on the web is something that originally I had worries about. “Will it be good enough?”, “Will I be criticised?”, “Will I make a fool of myself?”
Part of my anxiety is because I can be a bit of a perfectionist, I do like to get things as right as I possibly can. As I have said, I am like everyone else, I am susceptible to my inner critic. Probably, no one, apart from me, really cares about how I appear. Or maybe you do? There’s the inner critical voice again!
A couple of years ago, another friend (Laura Dziaszyk of Business Adept) shared a saying which I have on a note on the wall above my desk:
“Good enough done is better than perfect and pending.”
We can wait forever to make things perfect and while we do, the world is spinning by.
So, how not to be perfect:
- Listen to your critical voice and use it to find ways to learn and improve rather than beat yourself up.
- Consider the context of what you are worrying about. Look at the bigger picture, is your perceived outcome really as big as you imagine? What is the worst that can happen and would it really be as bad as you tell yourself?
- Talk about it. It’s amazing how supportive it can be to share your fear – just by outing it you can reduce its impact on you.
- Lastly, congratulate yourself for having a go. Lots of people are waiting to have the confidence to do something – make a video, learn to dance, apply for a job or promotion, share an idea or tell someone they care about them.
- Find your courage and do it. Once you do you will find that the next challenge will feel a little easier. Courage is a muscle, if you flex it you will find it will grow. If you’d like some support in finding your courage, book a Discovery Session by clicking the button below.
