One of my mentors, Dan Sullivan, has many great ideas, but one of them that has been very valuable to me is the idea of progress not perfection.
North American culture is obsessed with perfection. Not only does it keep us from finishing things, it stops us from even starting them in the first place because we are afraid it won’t be good enough. Perfection derails our efforts to make change or do something different, because if we are not perfect we fall off the wagon (which is normal and we all do it) and then we think we have failed and we just stop doing it.
Making lifestyle change is not an easy thing to do. If it were everyone would be healthy and the multi-billion dollar diet and health industry would be no more. Change is hard–often it feels almost impossible–but when you keep in mind the idea of progress not perfection, it doesn’t seem as daunting.
Perfection is not drinking at all. Progress is not drinking everyday.
Perfection is never eating another piece of chocolate cake. Progress is eating only on special occasions.
The first sets us up for the inevitable failure that comes with just living life. The second focuses on our successes and helps us build on them, getting us ever closer to where we want to be.