I made some mistakes this week

 

I made at least two that I know about and probably a few more that I’m not yet aware of.

 

What did I use to do about the mistakes I made?

 

Well, the younger and more highly strung version of myself would have worried incessantly, apologised, and beat myself down with an increased focus on achieving perfection with each piece of work before moving on to the next.

Invariably those would have led to stress, less sleep and more procrastination than usual in an attempt to right these perceived wrongs.

 

What do I do now (as said mistakes don’t appear to be going anywhere!)?

 

As I’ve grown into the role of small business owner, I’ve come to realise the age-old adage that effort trumps idea.

Sure, I like to get things right, and as anyone who knows me will attest, this is normally the case!

I do, however, now know that production is the most important part of serving others.

Doing what I say I’ll do when I say I’ll do it is far more important than celebrating the correct day at the start of an email or making sure I’ve put the correct year in the subtitle.

If I could achieve both of these I’d be a much happier person. Achieving the first is though infinitely more important than the latter.

Now, I’m almost certain some of you will be tutting under your breath that, “I’d make sure both were ticked off before I put my name to anything”, and that’s cool.

Perfection is the aim of a perfect world.

As we know, at present we live in anything but a perfect world, so I’ll happily keep company with old mate Voltaire who eloquently stated

“The best is the enemy of the good”.

 

How does this affect the mistakes I (don’t) make..

 

I hear you say?

This very topic came up in conversation with a couple of our clients last week.

We were discussing the way we’ve been conditioned (excuse the pun) to view our relationship with exercise.

Most of us are lucky to regularly work out 1-3 times a week.

Because of this, when we do actually get to work out, we invariably

a – try to make our workouts the perfect medley of pain and terror

b – we smash ourselves silly in the misguided belief we need to double down on intensity cause we missed our last 14 sessions!

Once again, our old enemy’s of perfection and stress come to the party.

 

What would happen if you approached work like this?

 

Was the second part of the conversation.

Even the biggest self-confessed Trojan doesn’t smash themselves silly every. single. day. at work.

No, not even you.

Whether you’re a high court judge, a travelling sales rep or a sheet metal worker (tip of the cap to my dad!) you’re not putting in 110% repeatedly.

If you did, you’d never survive, and the cumulative fatigue such a focus would create would mean the work you did end up putting out would be next to worthless over time.

Your approach to working out training should be the same.

World-class athletes don’t work out, they train as part of an individually designed, long term training programme.

So should you.

Yes you, be you a headteacher at the local high school or stay at home parent.

It’s likely you encounter just as much stress (albeit in different forms) as a high-level athlete.

Getting good sleep, cooking nutritious meals, dealing with the demands of work, kids, family and friends are enough to railroad even the ‘staunchest’ of individuals.

Layer on top the knowledge (jokers like me ram down your neck) that staying fit and healthy is super important and we’ve reached peak expectation overload.

 

Let’s take it down a notch – our simple advice for staying sane.

 

1 – No is your most important new word. Say it as much as you say yes and you’ll feel a weight off of both your mind and your expectations of yourself.

2 – With your newfound habit underway, you’ll find you have a surprising amount of free time. Let’s make sure we monopolise this for the positive.

Create a plan for your week, schedule in your ‘you’ time. Be ruthless. If you’re like me you’ll fold at the first hurdle. Persevere, it will be worth it believe me.

3 – Now we’ve nailed down some you time, don’t waste it.

 

Invest in yourself.

 

⁃ Want to learn how to write – book a course
⁃ Want to speak fluent French – get a tutor
⁃ Want to make the most of your health – get a professional coach

Do your research, have a chat with the prospective expert to make sure they’re what you need and get started.

You won’t regret it.

You’ll probably still make some mistakes that week.

But that’s the price of progress!

 

To book a time with me to talk all things progress, click here to schedule your free no-sweat consultation today.

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