Perfection

We recently read an article by Molly Wilcox titled ‘Overcoming Perfectionism and Gaining the Confidence you Need to Begin’.

Whilst not a new topic to our time with needle and thread, or indeed this newsletter, the fresh way Molly presented her ideas struck a chord with us and served as a timely reminder to not let perfect be the enemy of the good.

As a recovering perfectionist, Molly wondered how she’d ever be able to make peace with a world that wasn’t perfect. For her, she found a way forward with three simple ideas.

Molly learned to rename failure in a real and meaningful way as she learnt that not only is ‘failure’ sometimes a way of showing us how not to do something, but it provides feedback that will help us grow and develop if we’re willing to listen and learn.

Next, Molly embraced the idea of learning out loud. Instead of learning in secret until you’ve acquired enough mastery to flaunt your skills, learning out loud means you share what you’re currently learning openly. Though this process will often result in disappointment, chances are you’ll find yourself encouraged by onlookers who’ll become your cheerleaders as they nurture you from where you are to where you want to be.

Lastly, she stopped comparing. Molly found a way to accept that there will always be someone better than her and instead of allowing this to diminish her creativity, she allowed other people’s work to inspire her and invite her to become better.

Not only will the ideas Molly unpacked remind us to begin as the title of her article references, but they’ll also encourage us to keep going when perfectionism threatens to halt us in our tracks. The closing invitation in her article was that we’d start chasing after the dreams we have, knowing that we will get better every time we try.

Now that’s one invitation where our RSVP will be a definite yes and we hope yours will be too!