“If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.” What Margaret Atwood expressed so well here isn’t just applicable to writers, it’s for everyone.
I recently had a very hard conversation with one of my clients. I had to call her out on her inaction because for three consecutive months, she still hadn’t completed the homework I had assigned. It was my job to hold her accountable and in this case that meant being honest.
I knew the source of her delay wasn’t from bad intentions or even intentional avoidance, but rather, it stemmed from her desire for the situation to be just exactly right before she took the action needed.
I had to tell her the hard to hear truth: “You’re waiting for something that is never going to come. The perfect timing will never arrive, the ideal circumstances are highly unlikely to present themselves and the truth is, you’re going to have to take the action now or you just never will.”
Her response didn’t surprise me at all: “If it isn’t perfect, then I don’t want to do it,” she explained.
I knew the reason for this explanation was simply that she didn’t wish to experience the heartache of failure, so, I gave her more truth. “The only real way you can fail in this is if you don’t take the action needed. I would rather you take it and it not go as planned, then delay it forever.”
She understood and after the hard-to-hear truth, she went on to complete the task, even though the circumstances weren’t ideal. And guess what? She didn’t regret taking imperfect action, in fact, she was happy that she did.
She was so happy that she gave me permission to share the story because she knew that she wasn’t alone in the struggle of wanting things to be just right before we take action. She knew that others could benefit from hearing that her imperfect action was a success. Her advice afterwards was excellent. When I asked what she learned she shared this: “Do it now or you’ll just never do it at all.”
In the fitness world I see this all the time. People think that in order to get started, everything has to be just right. A perfect window of time needs to open in their schedule, they need to be at a certain fitness level, their health needs to be just right, and they need to have the right clothes, shoes and gear.
Some go as far as thinking they need to get in shape first, and then they will go to the gym. Though the logic sounds faulty, under the surface is simply a desire to not be uncomfortable, to not fail, and to not be an out-of-shape beginner who gets looked at or worse, judged.
The truth? If you wait for ideal circumstances, you’ll probably always be waiting. Life will happen and the timing may never be quite perfect enough. There will always be a reason not to do it. But if you come as you are – tired, nervous, apprehensive, brand new, unfit, and/or scared, and you keep coming as you are – not in the mood, unmotivated, tired, overwhelmed, or stressed, then you will be successful.
The bottom line is this; imperfect action trumps inaction every single time. I’ve had people show up for their workouts shoeless but they make it work. I’ve seen people do upper body with a cast on their foot, or lower body with a cast on their arm. I’ve even had people work out on their very worst day. The truth is that we either find a way, or we find a way out.
If you’ve been delaying doing something in your life for fear the timing or circumstances aren’t quite good enough, allow me to tell you what I tell others, and even myself on the harder days – do it anyways! You’ll never fail for having tried but if you wait for perfection, you’ll never try and that’s the only place that failure could ever live.
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This is a monthly opinion piece; Alison Brown is a local business owner, mother and published author.
