I sent out a newsletter and there was a typo.
I was shocked at how many people responded to this newsletter alerting me of this spelling mistake instead of sharing their thoughts about the content like I had hoped. The typo was in the very last sentence of the article, so It’s a safe assumption that these folks read the entire message.
It’s interesting how taken aback I was with these messages, as I find myself in a place now where I am intentionally looking for opportunities to take imperfect action in my work and in my daily life so that I don’t get hung up on the little things and can see the bigger picture more clearly… where I can notice imperfections and typos and simply allow them to exist without the need to redo the work to absolute perfection… because I could spend eternity over analyzing and recreating just to make something as perfect as it can be ( like I would have done in the past due to carrying a fear of failure or running the risk of looking less intelligent to my peers).
In fact, more and more I’ve been noticing typos, small design flaws, and stutters and welcoming them to remain as they are. I now see them as reminders that we can create content that isn’t perfect but still adds value.
Because of this thing called perfectionism has been a huge barrier of mine in the past, stopping me from putting my work and creativity out into the world, I now welcome the opposite of it- imperfection.
The fear of not appearing perfect and failing as a result is a huge barrier that I see with many business owners in my work as a hypnotherapist. And because of this, it’s this same act of responding to imperfection that has sparked me to write this post.
Our critical minds are programmed to always look for opportunities to identify a problem to solve so that we can then mitigate any risk of imperfection or something going wrong. And while critical thinking is such an important skill to have, it can also act as a block for being ale to explore new possibilities for creating, for taking action in or lives, and for sharing our gifts with the world. We can get so caught up in looking for errors that we are unable to see the bigger picture.
If you were one of those people who emailed me about my typo, I want to thank you for this reminder. Because without you picking up on this imperfection, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to share this message In this way…. this message of how embracing imperfection can lead us to creating new possibilities in our lives and how imperfection is perhaps the key to creation.
