Tip #5 – Fight the urge to be perfect
Many times it’s the fear of failure or not measuring up to society’s standards that can paralyze us into making a commitment, delaying a task or avoiding it altogether. I find when I’m writing that I could write a chapter over and over again in an effort to find the perfect words and sentence structure to convey my message. But at some point, I have to stop editing and move on. The important thing is to do your best – plan what you can, and anticipate the rest.
Even the biggest and best professional event organizers have a bad day. The Super Bowl is by far one of the biggest events held every year, viewed by millions of people all over the world. The 2013 Super Bowl game was suspended for a little over half an hour right after the second half began due to a power failure that knocked out of most the lights in the stadium. Was this an epic failure by the organizers of the event? – I say absolutely NOT! Once it was clear that no one was in danger, they implemented their contingency plan, the game resumed and a victor was declared. I think it is a testament to their advance planning and quick thinking that allowed the game to resume in a more-than-reasonable time frame.
At every event I’ve ever organized, the people in attendance have shown up wanting to have a good time, and therefore have been pretty forgiving if everything wasn’t 100% perfect. I’m sure that you’ve attended lots of events where everything wasn’t necessarily going according to plan, and you didn’t even realize it. That’s because the organizers were keeping their cool while implementing their “Plan B” and everyone was having a good time in spite of the snags. So strive for excellence, but don’t freak out if something goes wrong – keep breathing and improvise! It helps if you try to anticipate the potential roadblocks, and formulate a plan to overcome it or work around it should the need arise.
Remember this – the only true failure is the failure to try! Will some people be critical of your actions? Possibly, but the only way you will ever have a chance of succeeding is by continually moving forward on the road to your end goal. Remember that each step you take will get you closer and closer to success, so do the best you can, then let it go; it’s a wonderful feeling!
Next – Dealing with Procrastination, Part 4
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