In order to be able to do something well, we must first be willing to do it badly. - Julia Cameron
Are you prepared to risk being bad, in order to stand a chance of succeeding?
It may seem preposterous to suggest this, it certainly did to me when I first heard it. I was in the beginning stages of my business, so fixed on sharing the right message, writing only the perfect blogs and doing everything just right.
But how was I supposed to do things perfectly when I was only just starting?
Sure, I knew how to coach, and I had experience of running a product-based business before, but this coaching biz was a completely new experience. Selling myself, my skills, sharing my personal views and stories with the world.
Nothing felt good enough.
And I held myself back for several months, whilst knowing what I needed to do, not doing it because I wanted to be perfect right from the outset.
I held back selling my coaching, because my niche wasn’t perfectly defined.
I held back speaking in public and sharing my knowledge because oh-oh what if I didn’t know EVERYTHING that one clearly should know (sarcastic eye-roll).
Being imperfect was so unacceptable to this part of me that was driving my behaviour without me really knowing it.
Then I read this quote by my role model, a prolific creator Julia Cameron: “In order to be able to do something well, we must first be willing to do it badly.”
It sounded so wrong. And at the same time I knew she was right.
I knew I had to be braver. I had to take a risk and show up the way I was, right then and there, with all the skills, knowledge, passion, and confidence gaps that were staring me in the face.
And as I took those steps, the more I dared in the face of my fears, the easier it became.
The more I allow myself to be bad, the more I produce, the less pressure I feel, and the better I’m becoming.
Allowing ourselves to be bad doesn’t mean we’ll actually BE bad. But it’s essential that we let it, should it happen. And see it as an absolutely necessary step in our journey of growth and success.
Because it is. Without those imperfect steps I wouldn’t take the next steps, and wouldn’t be able to do what I love to do so much - coach people, and help them overcome their own limiting beliefs, transcend their own inner perfectionists and inner critics, and take action that is deeply meaningful for the direction they want to take their lives in.
Life requires of all of us that we dare to risk being bad. So that we even stand a chance of being really good. At pretty much anything.
So if you’ve noticed that nagging voice within that tells you you’re not good enough if you’re not doing things ‘just right’, and that you can’t get that big change off the ground before you’re sure that it’ll turn out great... remember that life doesn’t come with a user’s manual nor a guarantee.
We simply need to take a chance on ourselves, a lot of the time.
If there's something popping up in your business, career or life right now that is calling for you to take that next brave step, I’d love to support you with that inside my Laser Focus Session.
If what I’ve shared here resonates and you’d like to work with me 1:1, book below.
See you on the other side!
Mojca x
