Perfect is the enemy of good

Lessons from a 9-year old, part 2: Perfect is truly the enemy of good

My daughter is not scared of attacking big, ambitious projects. She is now the go-to organiser of family celebrations, but obviously she doesn’t get it perfect every time.

But she doesn’t let that stop her.

An adult would probably think of each mistake as a failure.

For her, the experience is fun anyway. She revels in everything that goes right.

How many times do we stop ourselves from doing things because we worry we won’t make a success of them? And so we don’t even try. Small things, and very big ones too. Like career transition.

During my own transition, I found Herminia Ibarra’s work very insightful.

My biggest takeaway? The answer doesn’t emerge purely through reflection or thinking. I must have thought about coaching for at least five years.

Ibarra’s advice – act your way into a new way of thinking, rather than the other way round.

Craft experiments, try small projects. Dip your toes into new waters without necessarily jumping in, and see how it feels.

For me, insight finally emerged when I actually did a coaching course. Tried it out. Found a new group of peers. And then there was no looking back.

When you feel stuck, how do you move forward?

About Shweta Anand Arora

Shweta Anand Arora is the founder of The Core Questin. She is a Leadership and Life Coach, who works with leaders across the corporate, social enterprise and non-profit space. Shweta holds an M.Ed. from Harvard University, an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and is a graduate of Coach for Life, USA.

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