Waiting For That Perfect Wave

Posted on December 06, 2009 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.

By nature, our brain waits. Our brain waits for the perfect moment, day, gift, for the traffic to clear, for the shopping lines to disappear. It waits for the perfect mate, investment, client or customer. Our brain waits for the perfect day, perfect life… for the perfect wave.

But no matter how skillfully or determined we get at seeking the “perfect,” no matter how resilient we are at waiting for the perfect to arrive - perfect never happens.

Exceptional leaders and teams know that life, and breakthrough success, is all about embracing and leveraging the imperfect. They understand that they must choose to grow and go forward in a world that is uncertain and complex. They also develop the necessary skills to accelerate their growth in whatever fast changing environment they find themselves in.

Though our minds will temp us to wait and seek the perfect. Seeking the “perfect” not only never happens, it can drive us nuts - for the mirage of the “perfect” will block us from moving toward a rich are rewarding life now.

The fact is: “Imperfect is… Perfect isn’t.” You would think that most of us have learned that by now - have learned to overcome perfectionism. But we haven’t.

So instead of waiting for the perfect… learn to trust your instincts. As the winds of life change, trust your experience and instincts and continue to step up the mountain of your potential and success. Dial into your senses, adapt, get ingenious, and imperfectly rise up. When you do, you’ll begin to appreciate, in a deeper way, the ever-changing nature of life.

Whatever it takes, learn to imperfectly and relentlessly rise. Increase your skills of adaptability. Get ingenious. Reach deeper now, sense more creativity now, find the better/different now… stop wasting time. Keep moving from your “real” here, to your best “there” - building a bridge into the future as you walk across it. As the Marines like to say “Improvise - Adapt - Overcome!”

* What are your best instincts telling you today?