"Striving for perfection is the greatest stopper there is... It's your excuse to yourself for not doing anything..."

"Striving for perfection is the greatest stopper there is... It's your excuse to yourself for not doing anything. Instead, strive for excellence, doing your best." - Sir Laurence Olivier


Admittedly, doing SOMETHING is way better than doing NOTHING. When you do nothing, you get/have/be NOTHING! Perfection is the false promise/premise. There is no such thing as PERFECTION...just perfecting. Excellence on the other hand is a viable destination or goal...it's also a natural (potential) outcome of doing consistently. PRACTICE DOES MAKE EXCELLENT (if not perfect).

I look to my life -- even this blog -- and see how many times I have been STOPPED by my fears of inadequacy or worries about my ability. Everyone (except perhaps freakish protoge's or savants) starts out a "beginner"! In fact, in Zen and particularly in the work of WRITING DOWN THE BONES author, Nathalie Goldberg, she talks a lot about returning to BEGINNER'S MIND. This is a fertile place to be, to explore, from which to draw and create. A perfect mind is not likely to go places that it's been before or knows are fruitless...or dangerous. A beginner's mind will venture there...and discover newly whatever there is to discover and create what there is to create.

RISK / REWARD!

Risk embarrassment and be rewarded with accomplishment. It's all about ACTION ACTION ACTION. Too often, I / we are satisfied with merely "thinking about" or "dreaming about" the lives we want to have...rather than taking bold action towards fulfilling upon it. What's the worst thing that can happen? We fail? We shame ourselves? We make a fool of ourselves? WHO CARES! We are all going to die one day and having risked and lost than never risked at all is a way better way to live and die than a life full of regrets.

Not unlike love, taking action, risks, chances NOW is a sure-fired path to making something happen!