Being 80% perfect is achievable in everyday life if you make it a habit.
Esther Stanhope
I still have to remind myself every day to stop aiming for 100% perfection – why?
If I don’t, it holds me back.
As a professional speaker I used to think I had to be 100% perfect, I had to say the right things and be word perfect or I was a failure.
I used to worry…
”what if I say something stupid? What if I forget my script? What if I sound dumb”?
Even though I was a BBC producer and business founder, author of an award winning book and international speaker – I still struggled with perfectionism in work and in life. I nearly killed myself trying to be the perfect parent.
So how can you achieve 80% perfection in your everyday life?
Simple.
Wake up in the morning and decide NOT to be perfect.
Perfect breakfast? Forget it. A banana is fine.
The kids? So, what if they skip a “heathy” breakfast occasionally. (I once found an empty Nutella jar in my daughter’s bed with a spoon under her pillow, Oops!)
School run? Who cares if you’re properly dressed?
Tip - Slap on some lippy.
My mum pal wears PJs under her ‘nice coat’ applies Chanel Number 104 Passion Lipstick and get compliments from other mums!
Ha ha, she doesn’t even wash her face.
You don’t need to be perfect and have the perfect blow-dry every day. Just ‘do’ your fringe. I do it all the time.
Once I spilled yoghurt down the front of my top on the way to a client – so I hid in the ladies and and turned it inside out – Shhhh, no one noticed. I had a blazer on anyway.
Work? When it comes to ‘difficult’ emails or tricky work scenarios.
I write tricky emails on a word doc and do a spell check. Then I leave it a few minutes and say to myself “I just need to be 80% perfect”
Most of the time I do press ‘send’ (in the past I would have hesitated)
Lunch – it doesn’t matter if you grab a green juice, bag of crisps or an emergency energy bar occasionally.
You can have a salad later.
Talking of dinner or cooking?
Here’s a perfect – non-perfect hack…
Finishing things off in the oven gives an impression of ‘perfection’.
Pasta, sauce, mix, shove in oven dish, top with grated cheese, bake for 20 mins = ooh gourmet Italian!
Whether it’s your gym workout, a promotion or home schooling, you’re NEVER going to be perfect, so don’t sweat it.. be 80%.
Aim for GOOD ENOUGH and be your usual FABULOUS self.
Don’t waste your time striving for 100% perfection.
That’s why I set up the 80% Perfect Club!
