Begin Imperfectly

My New Year's Day Permission Slip (Feel Free To Borrow It)

I woke up on January 1 feeling simultaneously excited and anxious.  I was looking forward to the many possibilities of the new year, only I wasn't sure exactly how to begin pursuing them.  I had this notion that whatever I did that day would set the tone for the rest of the year, so it just had to be perfect.

Of course that was just my anti-muse talking.  She would have liked nothing better than to see me overwhelm myself with the pressure to accomplish too much too soon.  Fortunately I remembered that imperfection is my new perfection and chose to take just a couple of small but significant steps towards my goals instead.

When you are a recovering perfectionist like me it is easy to forget that beginnings are supposed to be humble.  We want every step to be carefully planned and to get things right on the first try but beginnings without risks or mistakes lack the power to teach or transform us.   Achieving anything new or worthwhile often requires that we start small and slow and give ourselves plenty of room to stumble. 

So if there is something you really want to accomplish this year, please ignore any voice that tells you that it's too late or that you don't know enough or aren't good enough to even try.  Instead, do what I did and give yourself permission to begin imperfectly.  I promise you it will be infinitely more rewarding than never beginning at all.