To often great accomplishments in life are never reached because people are focused on making things “perfect” before they start a project or attempt a dream. Unless everything is just right they never get started. Result? Nothing. Dreams lost, opportunities gone. Think about one of the world’s largest corporations, Microsoft. Even though we complain when they come out with a new Windows operating system due to all the bugs, they understand one thing, getting to market quickly and reaching perfection later will create the most success. I’m not advocating implementing a dream or goal without research and planning, but I am advocating taking action if you are going to progress toward your dreams.
The route to great achievements start with multiple failures, rethinking ideas, taking new directions but always taking consistent, well thought out, enthusiastic action. If you wait for everything to be perfect you will be waiting until it is too late to ride the wave of destiny. The history of mankind is filled with examples of men and women who did not wait for perfection. Their dream was so real, so overwhelming that they could not wait for everything to be “just right.” What are you waiting for? Are you waiting for the recession to pass? Are you waiting for a new job or for a current event to pass? If you are waiting for the right time in your life to initiate your dream, it will never come, the time is never right.
The late author and noted psychologist Harriet Braiker said “Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing.” She was certainly right. There are few things more demoralizing than never reaching the one thing you always hoped for in life, the one dream that occupied your mind in quieter hours. Excellence and perfection are very different things. Perfection is the never ending battle to reach an imaginary level of perceived success. Excellence is the day in and day out focus on taking action to achieve the best you are capable of achieving. It may never be perfect but it will be the best you are capable of offering. When the telephone was first invented it was not perfect. Every year there are new advances that go far beyond what Alexander Graham Bell could have ever imagined, yet the one who is remembered is the creator not the many who have advanced the use of the telephone.
I think there is a process that when followed leads us to success. It is based on progress, not perfection. All progress made in this world utilizes the same formula:
· Putting passion behind your dream. There will be a long road to progress and without a joy and passion for what you want to achieve it will be difficult to sustain the effort. Don’t worry if you start down the wrong path, with enough effort you will find the right one!
· Create a well thought out plan. Spend a great deal of time researching, interviewing, reading, listening and learning but don’t wait for perfection. All you need is enough information to get started!
· Be disciplined enough to follow the plan daily and weekly. A gap in effort sets you back and can create self doubt. Consistent action is one of the most powerful forces in the universe!
· Take great reward and excitement in small victories! The road is long and the prize is great but the reward of persistence and great effort builds the character of a man or woman to achieve even more.
· Invite obstacles and failure into your life as great motivators. Each one creates a new thought process, a new way of thinking, a new idea. If you refuse to give in you will only find more success, more opportunities.
No one is perfect, no idea is perfect, that’s why pencils have erasers! Today go into the attic, open the old trunk that contains your dreams, dust them off and make progress toward their accomplishments every day! It may not be a perfect process but the ride will be one of the best times in your life!