The perfect book

To read a book is a joy. 
To collect books is also a joy!

Have you noticed what you think as you start to read a new book? 

Are you open and curious, ready to explore or are you expecting something else?

Do we expect reading to be a frictionless, perfect experience? 
That we will sit down at the perfect time and read the perfect number of pages...

Or we will read and understand it perfectly because it’s perfectly structured, edited and presented?

Maybe we hope that the book, this book will be ‘the’ book, the perfect one that will answer the big questions we have, give us the perfect advice or address our biggest need.

Our expectations can at times set us up for disappointment. 

And at least knowing what our standards and expectations are before we start something can help. 

Whether we are reading a book, or writing a book or launching any kind of project, tap in to the expectation or hope you have for it. 

And know that perfectionism can still show up in the standards we have for other people and other things ... as much as it shows up in the standards we can have for ourselves.  

As we read, write and work, progress is still better than the unreal ideal of perfection. 

Intermittent persistence

Working long and hard and burning out is too common a situation. In our quest to achieve we try to over achieve. (I wrote about this in ‘ish: The problem with our pursuit for perfection and the life changing practice of good enough’.)

If we are driven to work and achieve, how do we stop?

Unfortunately we can tend to adopt a type of relentless persistence where we just don’t give up! Persistence is a great characteristic but there are times when it’s dangerous to continue. We see it in working long and late hours, not taking a pause or break, all for productivity.

Equally damaging to our progress and well-being is resistance, to reject or obstruct and get in the way of getting things done. We block progress by putting up barriers. Or we may hear a mentor or coach suggest we need to ‘get out of our own way’. This is resistance.

Where is there progress, productivity ...and wellbeing? It’s in sprint and rest or ‘intermittent persistence’. It’s being ‘on’, really on. And then to be off, to rest and recover, reflect and consolidate. And then to go again and be ‘on’.

Persistence is good.

Intermittent is better. 

Clever in constraint

Lockdowns, isolation and restrictions: they’ve been challenging and frustrating. But they’ve also been constraints. And we can make constraints work in our favour.

Many people have shown creativity and ingenuity as they ‘work around’ a constraint looking for a solution. These could be solutions for a problem or solutions for entertainment, distraction and release of emotion.

With limited resources, restricted time or constrained choices, our brain goes to work to find something for the situation. It’s evident from the funnies, tips, solutions and hacks people have shared over recent months.

There is such resourcefulness in us ... when we let it out.

If you think you’re not clever or creative enough ... try applying some constraints. When we have wide or seemingly unlimited choices, supplies or resources, ingenuity can seem harder to tap into.

To find more clever, put a limit or constraint on the situation. It will gently ply the ingenuity out of us as we seek a way to work within the boundaries.

Is there a better way of doing this

When we’re doing something in one way, do we wonder is there a better way? Rather than finding just any old way to do a task or activity, what would make it better... better for you and your situation?

And what is ‘better’ anyway? Better happens when something is more acceptable … to us or perhaps to our customers, clients, family, colleagues or community.

It might be better because:

It’s quicker

It’s less stressful

It’s easier

It’s smoother

It uses less energy

It’s more affordable

It takes less effort

It happens faster

It makes us happier

It protects us

It extends our life

It cares for others

It is kinder, more efficient… and on and on we can go.

It’s a personal thing to identify what would make something better for you. And when focus is directed towards better, we can make decisions, change things and choose ways that will work for us.

For the better. My next book is coming soon ... ‘Better ways of thinking and working: How changing the way you do things, changes what you can do’. 

Is it really a pivot or just catching up

As we adapt to new ways of thinking, working and living, the word ‘pivot’ has gained ’traction’ 😩 cliché alert - urgh!

Is it really a pivot or are we just catching up on what needed to be done some time ago? Did we see the need, test the tech and talk about it, only to have initial hopes swamped by "too hard, too complicated, too busy - don’t have time”?

To pivot is indeed to change, rotate, shift direction.

To catch up is to work quicker, to increase your pace so you are ...at pace.

If it’s a big shift, then it is. If it’s doing what we could have started a while ago, we’re catching up. Nothing wrong with that.

In catching up we learn, experiment, gain insight and feedback. We can accelerate, speed up, adapt rapidly. As Madeline Kahn‘s ‘Eunice’ in the classic film ‘What’s up Doc?’ says, ‘Don’t over-dramatise’. There’s no benefit in making what we’re doing even more dramatic than it already is.

Overwhelm, worry, and ‘I need to do better’ live there and the dangers of perfectionism can become painfully visible. We can still do meaningful, purposeful and impactful work without the added panic that we’re also in a dramatic pivot.