Hey Reader This is a mindset I always get myself stuck in 😅 Any time I start a new project or goal, I expect myself to be able to do everything perfectly. This is especially notable with habit-building goals. I have this unspoken expectation that I need to hit all seven days a week, every week for me to be doing it "right". But then life happens 😝 Something sets me back, even in a small way, which means the perfect plan I laid out for myself can't happen in exactly the way I planned it. Cue the “well, I’ve already messed up, so I may as well not bother” mindset. You know the one, right? You have a goal, you make a plan, you start strong. And then one thing doesn’t go exactly to plan and suddenly you’re throwing the whole thing out the window. "I'll just start again tomorrow, or next week, or next month" 🥲 I used to do this all the time, especially with my physical health goals. If I skipped a walk or ate something outside of my meal plan, that would often be enough to convince me the whole day was a write-off. I’d fall into that all or nothing mentality, and “nothing” usually won. But this year I’ve been actively trying something different. The idea - You can make more progress without perfectionSo often we let our self-expectation of perfect hold us back from action. Or, when we've been taking action, we let that expectation derail us when we do something imperfectly. A mindset I'm working to build for my goals at the moment is considering how I can make some progress even if it's not perfect progress. Rather than focusing on hitting my high expectations at 100% every single day, I'm aiming to see how I can nudge myself in the right direction in any way I can. My current focus is building better routines to support my physical health through nutrition and movement. While previously I've aimed for "all or nothing", this time I'm not making perfect the target. Some days, I feel up to getting outside for a walk first thing in the morning. Other days, the idea of a morning walk sounds horrible, so I’ll move it to later in the day. Sometimes the weather’s lowkey horrid and I end up doing laps around the house instead. Eventually I'll meet a day where walking isn't viable, so my "movement" might just be stretching. The same goes for food. I’m no longer seeing one unplanned snack or change in my meal plan as the end of my efforts. Instead of falling off completely and staying there, I'll just pick back up at the next meal. One imperfect moment doesn’t undo everything I’ve been working towards. And you know what? I am making progress, even if imperfectly 😄 Here’s what my progress has looked like since the start of the year: Is it linear? Nope. Is it always predictable? Definitely not. But it’s progress. And it’s happening because I’m not letting the idea of "perfect" get in my way 💪 Let’s take actionThinking about a goal you've been working on, ask yourself: Am I being too rigid in how I expect myself to get there?
Are my own expectations actually making it harder to make progress?
Where could I offer myself some leniency, flexibility, or grace?
Remember: You don’t have to get it 100% right to get results, you just have to keep going. Progress doesn't require perfection. Until next time! - Jess Sick of setting goals that don't get achieved? Learn the system everyday goal-getters are using to make EPIC things happen. |
I share weekly actionable advice for people who use paper-based planning systems looking to live a more productive and creative life.
Hey Reader How long does it take to "change your life"? 🤔 This is a question I've been asking myself recently, especially given the rut I've found myself in during Quarter 2. Even though I started Q2 with a lot of motivation and enthusiasm, things quickly fell away when I found myself in a major slump. I'd been excited to make progress, but the reality was that I just felt stagnant. Projects that I'd been eager to work on got neglected and a lot of my goals were pushed to the backburner....
Hey Reader While January 1st gets a lot of hype for being a potential fresh start, I'm often more excited about mid-year 😝 Not only is it a natural starting point for new goals and projects, it also feels softer than New Years. The mid-year crossover doesn't come with the same perfectionistic pressure that a lot of us feel when moving into a new calendar year, but it still makes for a good milestone moment. While I'm certainly eager to move into Quarter 3, I'm also still carrying some...
Hey Reader New journal season is slowly approaching 😈 While this is always an exciting time (I love seeing what people put into their setups) it can also be a somewhat panic inducing one... What do I actually need in my new journal? What if I forget to include something? What if my new setup doesn't work for me? After setting up over 40 new journals since 2016, you'd think these concerns would be a thing of the past for me. You’d think, having set up that many journals, I’d be at a point of...