Progress Over Perfection

My dad taught me to golf when I was about 13 years old and I loved the game! When I reached high school my biology teacher, Mr. Robbins, (who also happened the girls’ varsity golf coach) asked me to join the team. I was equal parts flattered and terrified! I had never taken a golf lesson and didn’t think I was good enough for the team but Mr.  Robbins insisted that I’d fit right in and have a chance to improve my game. Short story…I chickened out and didn’t do it! I had a chance to have free golf lessons from a man whose daughter ended up golfing on the LPGA tour and I walked away! Crazy right? I was so afraid of failing or, worse yet, making a fool out of myself that I didn’t even try. I wanted to be perfect before I even started. Sadly, that became a pattern for much of my adult life and almost ended my flower farm before it began.

In 2023, I started working with a life coach to tackle some health issues and ended up with so much more (Thanks Deana Brownlow)! One of Deana’s mantras that really hit me was “progress over perfection”. So often, I would start something, fail to be perfect at it and give up in frustration or, worse yet, not even start to begin with! MY mantra was “why do it if I can’t do it well?”.  But what if I could see the lack of perfection as an opportunity to re-assess and grow rather than abject failure? What if I could embrace imperfection and learn to fail forward? Short answer…the ability to dream bigger than ever, get comfortable with being uncomfortable and try scary things! I never would have started Straw Hat Flower Farm (and kept it going despite goof-ups…check out all those dead plants in the picture!) without embracing this new way of thinking.

Do I love imperfection? Nope! I still work hard at getting things done really well, but I am getting better at not getting derailed by mistakes or shortcomings and being okay with “good enough for now”.  So, here’s to failing forward and progress over perfection!

Sincerely,

A recovering perfectionist!