taking my own advice.

I'm more adept at giving advice instead of seeking it, but even the best of us need a little boost sometimes. My inspiration station serves this purpose rather well. Whenever I hear something or see something that strikes me in the right way, it goes on the board. And really, it's a random board. Right now there are quotes from John Wooden (a legendary basketball coach), Albert Einstein (a famous genius), and Tamra Barney (a real housewife from Orange County). Sometimes, it is all hip hop lyrics (typically in the Rick Ross "hustle hard" vein). Other times, I have more of a "don't give up" vibe. It just depends on the day... and time of the semester!

<<<-------- But this one is my favorite. It's a Lindsay Granger original, and it is something that I need to see everyday.

I have a problem with having really good ideas but not following through on them. There are times when I jokingly blame ADHD for this (if you follow me on twitter, you'll see me tweet "ADHD on a million" quite a few times when deadlines are looming!), but that's not real. I don't actually have the disorder. I do, however, suffer from a high level of perfectionism that (among other things) makes it hard for me to do things when there is a large chance of not succeeding. In terms of writing papers, I can't get going until I know exactly what I'm going to write about. Then, I have to constantly remind myself that 'it's just a draft' or else I'll keep editing before it's finished... which delays the paper until the last minute, then makes me dissatisfied with the final product. Honestly, I think that what saves me and my GPA is that I'm a good writer and a better editor. But still, never being satisfied with your own work is not a good look.

In terms of real life stuff, this perfectionism stymies my efforts at 'going big.' I mean, what if I fail? To me, that's the scariest thing ever. I'm not afraid of public speaking. I see death as an inevitability. But failure? Nope. Not an option. But, since it's not an option, I tend not to take risks where that could be an option. It is something that I am actively working on. For example, one of my personal goals of this blog is to just write without caring about who reads it. I mean, yeah, I hope I gain an audience and I hope I can change some minds and contribute to the conversation, but it's not a must. I won't gage the success or failure of this endeavor by not meeting these goals. At least, I won't try to.

So here I am, trying to follow my own advice. It's time to stop letting the idea that I have to be perfect at everything paralyze me from doing the things that I want to do. That I need to do. That I'm perfectly capable of doing. And believe me, there is a lot that I want to do! Will I accomplish all of it? Probably not. But without going for anything, I won't do anything.

Time to let myself be great. You should do the same.