061. Imperfect Action
[Transcript auto-generated; not edited for clarity or context].
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome back to Arrive Daily. We're talking about imperfect action today on the pod.
We're gonna chat all about ways in which we can go forward and move ourselves forward here on the pod and through special episodes. So, Let's talk today about imperfect action. I wanna give you a few examples of what it means. To take imperfect action, and I wanna ask you if you really fall victim or pray, shall I say, to only wanting to take action when you feel like everything is gonna be perfect.
If you only wanna take action when you have the least amount of chance of falling on your face. You only wanna take action when you're so freaking lutely. Sure of the outcome. This is your episode, friend, because I wanna show you today by asking you some questions about what it means to take imperfect action, what it means to wait if your actions are totally perfect in your mind, why that's actually not serving you.
And I wanna help you bust through and start to take or continue to take and to stop overthinking. Imperfect action. Okay. Here's what I wanna say to you. Firstly, There is no such thing as being a hundred percent ready. There's no such thing as being a hundred percent successful in your attempt before you even attempt to do the thing.
There's no such thing as perfect action. So first question is what's at stake? Now what I mean by this is kind of twofold. If we want to control the narrative, so to speak, and we feel like we wanna take action only when. We feel like whatever we're delivering in the world is perfectly polished. Let's say it's the launch of a product, right?
Or, uh, it's, you know, a big presentation that you're doing at work, right? Like you only wanna launch that thing, let's say, when you feel like it's perfect, and that way you feel like you can control the narrative Now, so I wanna ask you what's at stake? When you're doing that and what's at stake is your ego.
Okay? So your ego is at play when you feel like you are not taking the action that you wanna take. Okay? So that's what you think. Is at stake is your ego, the fragility of that little thing rattling around our brain. Call it our ego, that man, it just really gets us every single time, doesn't it? Because you, you, what you actually might think is, well, if I don't absolutely land that product launch, no one will buy.
Or if I don't nail that sales presentation, my boss is gonna fire me. So that's what you might think is at stake when you are waiting and overly perfecting and polishing and honing and crafting to the point of inaction. Action.
What's actually at stake is you just not getting the thing launched. What's actually at stake is you not serving the people that you need to serve. What's at stake is you. Not getting the valuable feedback that you're gonna get from just going forth, doing the thing, putting yourself out there, taking the ne next best step of integrity as ever.
I'm already getting ahead of myself, but I wanna pitch that question to you. What's at stake because. We might think that what's at stake is a kind of a shamey conversation with ourself. If we don't get it right, if we show up imperfect, if we show up and we look stupid. But what I wanna urge you here on is there's something much bigger at stake, something outside of us that's much bigger at stake, that we're leaving behind and we're leaving on the table if we don't just fully embrace our imperfect actions.
Show up for them because that's what's at stake, honing and honoring your word. All right. Next thing here, and I mentioned this a little bit already. I want you to ask yourself, what's the first or next best step sometimes the best first step, again, in taking the. Your imperfect action knowing that maybe you're gonna get it wrong, maybe it's not gonna be perfect. But instead of spending all your time worrying about getting all of the pieces in order. Why not just focus instead on, let's say the most important or the first step, or the best step of integrity for you?
It is amazing what's gonna happen in terms of you showing up for yourself, for your audience, for the people.
That you serve for the people that you've made promises to in whatever regard that is. Whether it's your customers, your clients, a loved one. If you always proceed from this notion of what is the best first step, or what is my next best step of integrity, you will always. Figure it out. And then what happens is instead of worrying about what the perfect step is or what the perfect presentation would look like, or what the perfect product or course launch or whatever the thing is, right, might look like.
You. You get yourself out of that perfectionist mindset, and again, you bring it back to what's really important based on what's the most integris step that you can take. And when we focus on the next best step. The the best first step of integrity, and I really should have written that down here of integrity because I think that's the key word truly, is how can I be integrous?
How can I show up? So that is another question I want you to ask yourself. If you're feeling like you can only take action if it's absolutely polished, imperfect, what is the next best step or the first step of integrity that I can take right now to show up to serve? To be there to keep my word.
All right. Now, question three that I wanna ask you.
To ask yourself, my friend, is in taking imperfect action. What can you learn that one is maybe the most important because. What happens is when we ask this question of ourselves, what can I learn? We take ourselves out of the present moment, that present concern, that present worry of what happens if it's not perfect. What happens if I look like an idiot? What happens if I don't get it right?
We take ourselves out of that present moment and that and that sort of like whirling dervish of concern and worry, and we bring ourselves into a future focused mindset. When we ask ourselves, what can I learn? You catapult yourself into the future, so to speak, and you begin to see yourself in this future state where you've done the thing and you have the knowledge because you've done the thing.
You've taken the imperfect action. And so our brain will naturally wanna start catching up with that future self. When you imagine and when you ask yourself that question, what can I learn? Your brain will automatically start clicking in to help move you forward, to help guide you forward into this.
So my friend, I want to ask you. What can you learn by just doing the thing? By taking the imperfect action by moving yourself out of stuck confusion. The, the mucky mess of. The unknown of, of the, maybe the wondering, right? That is a land that we do not wanna be in. When you start to get in the vehicle of imperfect action, that's where the good stuff is.
That's where the gravy is. That's where you really learn and you can really roll your sleeves up, and you can really dive in and learn a better action to take next time. Because you just did it the first time and you learned and you grew from it. So whether you're worried about a launch not going as perfectly as you planned, whether you're worried about looking stupid, going live on social media, whether you're just worried that you're not gonna get it right on your to-do list scheduling that day, it's okay. When you ask yourself what's really at stake, you're gonna find out, and I'm gonna tell you, it's not your ego when you ask yourself.
Who can I serve? When you know who, what's at stake, that's when you can take imperfect action. When you can ask yourself, what's the next best step of integrity for me? You can move yourself forward into beautiful, messy, imperfect action.
And truly a gift. When you get future focused and you ask yourself, what can I learn from taking imperfect action? That is where the magic is my friend. So do not worry about looking like a fool. Do not worry about getting it wrong. Do not worry about failure. All failure.
It's truly feedback. Okay? So take your imperfect action, move yourself along, move the project along. I wanna thank you for honoring yourself, taking the time to listen to this episode, and I wanna thank you for being a loyal listener. That's it for me today. I will check you out in tomorrow's episode until then, my friend, keep going in beautiful, imperfect action.
I'll talk to you soon.
