It’s June. That means next month is July. Then it’s going to be August. Then next thing you know, Q4 will arrive, and the whirlwind of the holidaze will buzz by. We’ll blink and start boarding planes destined for Orlando and Vegas — even though it feels like we just got off planes arriving from Orlando and Vegas. This passing of time stuff shows no mercy.
In January, when you exited those planes, you had big plans for this year. Huge, important, monumental things you were going to accomplish. Things you couldn’t wait to start… or finish.
But half a year later, these things — that new blog, that direct mail campaign, that training program, the webinar series, the product launch — remain, tauntingly, fragmented, unfinished, undone. They stare at you from the top of your whiteboard, in the same exact spot you placed in them in January. They mock you on your calendar push notifications and productivity app alerts.
These constant reminders of how long it’s been (and how far you still have to go) sting as they chip away at your confidence and keep you frozen in inactivity. You start to question yourself, your abilities. What you were certain was the right path in January develops twists and turns and is now as uneven as cobblestone.
You’re in a holding pattern of stalling, avoiding, overthinking. You’re so afraid of making a mistake that you’re making the biggest mistake. Doing nothing.
The good news is you have a whole half of a year to take on those things you set out to do. However, to do it, you have to change your approach.
1) Address What You’re Avoiding. Perfectionism is steeped in fear, with procrastination and avoidance riding its coattails. As you break things down and create your to-do list, make a second one with all the things you’re avoiding. All those things that are taking up space in your mind and weighing you down. Then set deadlines and keep those commitments by any means necessary.
2) Accountability. Most people need outer accountability to accomplish personal goals. Find an accountability partner for your various aspirations — someone who can relate to your struggles, or at least empathize with them, but not let you succumb to them. Your best friend might give you a pass if you miss a workout, but a fitness coach will call you out on your excuses.
3) Be realistic. When it comes to my personal writing, I often have ridiculously lofty ambitions. I convince myself that despite that fact that have a demanding full-time job and am a mother to a toddler, I will find four hours in the evening to write after my daughter goes to bed. I might be able to keep that up for a night, but by just Day 2 I’ve usually failed, accidentally falling asleep in a toddler bed at 8:00pm. And even though the expectation was unrealistic, this failure sets a precedent. You’re a failure. Why bother.
You’re better off committing to something you know that 100 percent without a doubt you’ll achieve — even if it’s writing for a mere 10 minutes a day.
4) Make a public declaration. When I started my personal blog, I posted on commonsku that I would start it by a certain date and then publish weekly. Making my intentions public were 100 percent why I made sure I reached that goal. Avoiding embarrassment motivated me for months and months. (Until I fizzled out, gave into the self-doubt, and fell into the aforementioned holding pattern, which was the inspiration for this post.)
5) Break it down. Starting a large project can be overwhelming. Simply breaking the task down into smaller steps makes them digestible. I’m talking as small as you need them to be. Embarrassingly small. Like “Step 1. Pick up new notepad from the supply closet” small. Once you start to enjoy a small accomplishment or two, you’re more likely to keep going and finish.
What accomplishments can you celebrate in 2017 if you ditch perfection and get started now? Stop waiting for perfect conditions, which will never, ever, ever come. Instead, take that all-important leap. And begin.
Aubrey Collins is the vice president of sales at MediaTree, a supplier of branded digital entertainment cards. She fell in love with the promotional products industry in 2011 at her first PPAI Expo. She shares her perspective on everything from the industry, what parenting continues to teach her about business, to what marketing campaigns make her cry on her blog. Connect with her on Twitter or email her atacollins@mediatreegroup.com.