One step, two steps ….. then one day!

I told you last week that I was excited by a quote by Mark Twain that says, “Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection”.

This week I want to explore this quote further and apply it differently.

What did Mark Twain mean by this quote?

As a Project manager, I know about continuous improvement and delaying improvements or solutions as you wait for perfection. Your wait could be for a long time or perhaps even forever.

Applying this quote to our lives, we can wait for the perfect conditions before we start on those projects that we have wanted to do or we can start them now and continuously improve and evolve them as we go on.

This is not an excuse to go in without a good thought process or planning. It’s about knowing when you have done enough homework and when to bite the bullet and go for it.

There’s always a reason to delay things or put certain projects on hold. The reasons could range from not having enough time, the kids being too young, not having the right skills set, finding the right partners to collaborate with to not having the kickstart fund.

Any of these reasons could be there and most of them will remain for a very long time. So what can we do?

Here are some of my tips.

Start small

So you are not ready to rent a space, but can you use your spare room to start now? What one step can you take today that will move you closer to your goal. Take it and take it now.

Prepare for it

If you don’t have the skills just yet, what can you learn today that will start to close the gap. Even if you can’t see how all the other challenges are going to be resolved, resolve those that are currently within your gift. You’re not going to resolve all of them at the same time anyway so start with the first one.

Share your vision and passion with as many as possible.

Create and perfect your elevator pitch, do some market research and be ready to share and sell your ideas. The more you share it, the easier it becomes and the more passionate you get. Eventually you will share it with someone that gets it and wants in. You can think you don’t have partners or collaborators and you keep mute. Guess what? You won’t have them. Remember your collaborators will also likely come with the resources you need.

Get the children involved.

I know what you’re thinking… what do kids know? There will be some projects that you can get your children involved in and there will be some that require just your effort, but every project can benefit from a child’s creativity, positivity and excitement. So tap into them if only for that. Who knows? You might get some unexpected gains like sparking the next level of ideas or unleashing the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Create more time for your passion and projects.

Refer to my last blog for some ideas of how to find more time for the things that matter

Be your own biggest champion

Don’t expect more from others than you’re willing to give yourself. This can include commitments of time, energy or money. If you’re not willing to give up some luxuries or commit your time and funds to your own ideas, don’t expect that from others.

Don’t wait forever to start something new. Instead start where you are and take time to review your progress, revise your approach and continuously improve yourself and your project.

Sometimes we say the kids are too young, or they are in their teenage years and have too many activities and then we wait until they go to university only to find ourselves out of excuses and out of steam.

Get them to muck in and support you as you take your own little steps and you can inspire them too as they see you pursue your own goals and passions.

Here’s to no more excuses, to continuous improvement and not putting things on hold waiting for delayed perfections.

We have to be people who are in continuous pursuit of perfection so we never stay in one place waiting for that perfection to magically happen.

It’s not going to. Trust me.

So go on, take a step today. Instead of waiting until perfection happens before we move, take a step and move towards the perfection that is sure as long as you never stop moving. Each step forward ultimately makes life more perfect, beautiful and joyous.

See you next week. Thanks for stopping by. Please share this blog with others, I know there’s someone out there who will be glad you did.