The Day After Perfect

Welcome to the day after perfect! It’s early January and it’s highly likely that one or more goals/intentions you set for 2019 has seen less than perfect results.

Maybe you have not set goals/intentions yet, because you didn’t want to deal with the guilt or disappointment like you have in the past when things did not turn out the way you want. Today I am here to bring you some new hope and amazing new strategies to help you ACTUALLY ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS! 


Want to know the truth? I believe in you! We all make mistakes, and we are not perfect and the quicker we accept this and keep going the better! I am here to help you win. I recently read a fantastic book called ‘Finish’ by Jon Acuff and the entire book provides actual data on how to get your goals done, so let’s dig in together!


Let’s talk about we why give up on our goals. Any guesses? The culprit behind our failure is perfectionism. Raise your hand if you have ever dealt with this? (guilty!) We have all struggled with this at one point or another.

Perfectionism has many lies it hides behind, I am going to uncover a few for you!

Lie #1 – If it isn’t perfect, quit! Because if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing right!

This is why we give up when we have an ‘off’ day on our track record. Or as Jon calls it “the day after perfect.” We quit our bible study as soon as we miss one morning. Basically, once things stopped being perfect, we throw it aside. We have all struggled with this at some point or another.

This lie can even stop us from dreaming! Have you ever judged a dream before you even wrote it in your planner because it doesn’t sound like a good enough goal? Perfection tries to trip us up right at the starting line.

THE TRUTH – Nothing is perfect. (except the Holy Trinity) Nothing we try to accomplish will be perfect. You will mess up on your goals at some point in the process. I am not trying to be harsh; I am telling you the truth so you can silence perfectionism and keep going! When you hear that voice in your head is saying, “ugh I already messed up, might as well” you can say "No, I might as well keep trying because I KNEW I was gonna have an off day?"

Have you ever forced yourself into a ridiculous diet and as soon as you fail you think “ugh I already messed up might as well… just eat all the doughnuts.” Perfectionism leads to guilt and strangles our progress. So give yourself grace and accept the fact that you will make a mistake and when it happens you have permission to get back on track and forgive yourself!

“The harder you try to be perfect, the less likely you’ll accomplish your goals.” - Jon cuff 


Lie #2 – You can do it all.

Nope! With big dreams and big goals, something must be sacrificed. Our time on earth is precious and finite. When I started my business while working a full-time job, something had to GO in my schedule to make time to birth this business. Big goals take deliberate planning and prioritizing. Jon Acuff explains in his book Finish that you must pick what you are going to bomb. He bombs television and knows nothing about 'House of Cards' or 'Breaking Bad'. He bombed TV to finish His book.

For me, I bombed going out. I was TERRIBLE about seeing friends for a season of my life because I was home busy every night and weekend creating my business. Maybe you will need to bomb the laundry, or grocery shopping, or social media to give your dream the time it needs to succeed. Can you hire a maid? Can you do that new grocery delivery service? Find things you can bomb so you can CRUSH your goals!

Lie #3 – There is no time left, your window of opportunity has passed.

“There’s Still Time. Perfectionism will tell you that you’ve spent so long in a hiding place that there’s no more time. You’ve missed some magical window. Your opportunity is gone. The chance has passed. Ridiculous.” - Jon Acuff

I agree with Jon. Your big dream from last year… there is still time! You can do it!

So what’s next?

I want to share with you Jon’s tricks to accomplishing your goals. I LOVE THESE! I have already seen them working!

#1 Goal Accomplishing Strategy – Cut your goal in half!

Yes! Cut it in half! You probably made it too big to start with anyways. Cut it in half! You might hear perfectionism saying, “no that’s weak. That’s not worth pursuing.” There is research that shows cutting your goal in half helps driving up your rate of success and your desire to continue the path far after you made it to the finish line! Trust me. Cut it in half!

“Unfortunately, perfectionism dies slowly. It’s persistent and particularly dangerous because it masquerades as excellence.” - Jon Acuff. 


#2 Goal Accomplishing Strategy – Be realistic with how long something takes you to complete.

This one is big. Often we plan a day that even superwoman could not accomplish. When we start to work on a project, we almost ALWAYS underestimate the time it takes to complete the task. This is called the planning fallacy, and it’s universal. Overestimate how long it will take you to do it! Once you see how long it takes you to do part of the goal, adjust your plan. Be flexible and realistic.

#3 Goal Accomplishing Strategy – Give yourself grace.

This one was not exactly in the book, but it matters. Give yourself grace in the process. You are so loved.

We believe in you! Go pick up this book to learn more!

Love, 

Polly 

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