Tag: growth

Finding the balance between striving for perfection and getting things done

We should all try our best at whatever we do, but we need to realize that our best is not perfect, and will never be perfect, no matter how much time we spend on it. Instead, we should focus our time, energy, and money on a mix between creating the minimum viable product (MVP) as quickly as possible and making adjustments based on the results/data that comes in.

Just because we think something will go according to plan, doesn’t mean that it will. If we’re inexperienced, sometimes we just don’t know what we don’t know. And even when we are experienced, sometimes there are still unexpected surprises or we feel the butterfly effect from some other event outside of our control.

So, our goal should be to know what we’re aiming for (having an end result in mind), develop a plan to get there, and execute that plan as quickly as possible. Yes, you should check your work, you should look for errors and try to avoid pitfalls when you can, but if you wait for “perfect,” it will take you a year to do something you could have achieved in a month (and it still won’t be perfect).

Get moving. Get started. Don’t wait for perfect. Pay attention to the results. Modify your actions based on your new hypothesis. Repeat.

Will you choose to be comfortable or to grow?

“Comfort makes cowards of us all.” Michael Gerber in “The E-Myth Revisited”

How true this is. We use comfort as a crutch. We don’t like being uncomfortable and, as a result, try to get back to that comfortable place. But staying in your comfort zone leads to mediocrity. Staying in your comfort zone leads to complacency. It keeps you hidden from the world. Stay hidden, keep your opinions to yourself, and you might as well consider yourself invisible. That’s fine if you want average. It all starts with a mindset though. Embrace discomfort and you will be on the path to self-improvement.

Failure, limitations, and the future

If you can embrace failure, you can accomplish amazing things. If you aren’t afraid to fail, to look stupid, to look weak or lesser in the eyes of others, as long as you can keep getting up and trying again, you will continue to improve and eventually reach heights you never thought possible before.

Failures or setbacks happen. Plan and prepare as much as possible so that winning is the expected outcome, not failure. But if/when you do fail, don’t be too down on yourself. Everyone fails if they’re pushing their current limits…the key is to have a good understanding of what your current limitations are, how much risk you can afford to take so that your failure is not catastrophic, and then to continually push forward. By doing this, eventually your current limitations will be easy for you.

Embracing your fear to make you better and live with less anxiety

Embrace your fear. Everybody fears something. Don’t be ashamed of it and don’t recoil from it. If you fear making mistakes and you don’t embrace it, you will do everything in your power to not make a mistake. Eventually that will lead you to stop taking any chances at all just so you don’t look bad…

But the thing is, it’s all in your head. Most people won’t judge you for making mistake. And if they do, it’s pretty hypocritical. Everyone makes mistakes. The best learn from their mistakes and from the mistakes they’ve observed others make. They not only learn from that isolated incident, but they also can apply their new found knowledge in other areas of life. They figure out where the carryover is and become better predictors for future events. Then they test the hypothesis and keep pushing.

The more you push your limits, the more you grow. But if you don’t want to push your limits and always want to stay within your comfort zone, you might grow slowly, or you might not grow at all. And in a worst-case scenario, you’ll actually end up getting worse.

Embrace your fears. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, to look weak, to look dumb… If you don’t understand something, ask a question. If you think you can lift the weight, but you aren’t sure, try it anyways. Ask for a spotter. People like to help if you let them.

What is your definition of success?

Everyone has their own definition of success. Even if they don’t have it written down (most don’t, including myself) or it’s not the same definition every time they think of it, when they hear the word success or successful, they have an idea of what it looks like to them at that moment. And it’s different for everyone because we all have different goals in life. For example, if somebody doesn’t want to have children, being a great mother or father would not be a picture of success for them. Some people don’t want to work long hours (or any hours for that matter), so working their way up the corporate ladder would not be there idea of success. Nobody is right or wrong in the situation, it just depends on how you define success.

My current “definition” is that to be truly successful, you need to be able to succeed in many different types of environments. I want to accomplish great things like spending quality time with my family and friends, working towards good physical, mental, and financial health, building a career I can be proud of, taking time for hobbies and games that excite me, etc. I don’t want to be so lopsided that my success in one aspect of life gets in the way of my success in any of the other areas. I want to be complete, well-rounded, and above average in everything I do. Naturally, I will fall short in some areas at some time periods of my life, but if I can get up every time I fall down and keep going, I’ll be satisfied.

What is your definition of success?