Looking for a little motivation? Look no further. There’s this theory that we can be our own worst enemy when it comes to making progress towards our goals. We come up with bold exciting ideas and somehow talk ourselves out of it. In many cases, what stands in our way is the thought that if we can’t do it perfectly, we may as well not do it at all. Well today is a great day to try a different approach, and that approach is “progress over perfection.”

Doing Something Is Always Better Than Doing Nothing

Fear can be a powerful and destructive emotion. We fear doing something wrong. We fear looking stupid. We fear failure. We fear not being perfect. So we follow this fear, and avoid taking action. The fear becomes more important than the goal, and that’s the exact opposite of how we should think and behave. There’s a greater chance for success if we let go of this fear if we’re constantly testing our ideas and not letting fear paralyze us. There’s a 100% chance of failure if we don’t.

Whether you’re looking to start a new project, create content for your personal or professional brand, or trying something you’ve always thought about but never had the guts to do it –it’s time to give it a shot.

Getting Started

 Here are three practical steps you can take to choose progress over perfection:

1. Take the first step

• Start brainstorming an idea or project you want to tackle.
• Remember the sky’s the limit! If you knew you couldn’t fail what would you be attempting right now?
• Go live on a social media platform, post personal inspirational content consistently and engage with strangers, give a speech in front a large audience, host a workshop – the opportunities to rise to the occasion are endless! 

2. Plan out a strategy

• How can you get from point A to B?
• Put together a well thought out strategy on how to bring this idea to life.
• Do your research and think about the tools and resources you’ll need to get it done so you’re well prepared.
• Make it time-bound, and set milestones for yourself.
• But don’t dwell on this step! Keep it moving! On to the next one! 

3. Belly up to the bar!

• Don’t put all that time and effort brainstorming an idea and putting together a solid strategy only to decide not to follow through.
• Commit to your plan, and just do it because the secret of getting ahead is getting started!
• As you’re executing your strategy, you’ll determine what worked and what didn’t work.

Now this is very important to keep in mind: Step 3 isn’t the last step. A huge part of making “progress over perfection” your mantra is being aware that there’s a chance your ideas won’t work out like you thought they would and being okay with that. In order to grow we must be brave enough to make mistakes, learn from them and move on. Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of the process and it’s an ongoing cycle of learning and improving.

So, do yourself a favor, and don’t be so hard on yourself. Give your ideas a chance and even if they fall flat, take note of what didn’t work that time around, make adjustments and try again!

And if you ever get stuck or need help getting started – here at Kolbeco, we can provide support every step of the way. Our team is passionate in providing creative solutions.