Choose Happy: Continuous improvement

I naturally have a Type-A personality; I am super organised, ambitious, and I like things to be done well. While that will never change, I no longer call myself a perfectionist. Over the years, I’ve learned that expecting perfection from yourself from the get-go is normally either a recipe for disappointment or paralysis before you even begin. Being comfortable in whichever level you’re at, in your mistakes, and in your need to practice, learn, and grow… that’s the best way to approach life. Giving your best and being the best are two very different constructs.

In order to be YOUR best, you need to work for it and learn along the way. This was embedded in my brain in a business class I took a few years ago. The professor was talking about successful entrepreneurs. He explained that there is no way to fully predict the future, and while it is good to have a plan, it is also essential to continuously improve and develop that plan. If you view your goals through a similar lens, you realise that this is how we build up our skills and knowledge and personality. Having the flexibility to learn from what works and what doesn’t makes moving forward more efficient and rewarding.

This might sound like a sure-fire way to take big leaps toward your goal, but it is actually kind of the opposite… take baby steps. Baby steps help you fail fast and small, so that you aren’t as wasteful with your time or resources and can correct quickly. For example, when learning a language, you don’t start by reading an 800-page novel. If you did, you’d fail big and slow because you wouldn’t know any of the big words or complicated sentence structures. You start by learning simple, useful words and verb conjugations. As you keep learning, you add a few more words at a time and learn new ways to use them. Another important part of learning a language is speaking it. Expecting an ability to speak without any mistakes the first time you attempt to hold a conversation can stop you from wanting to try because you don’t know the language perfectly yet… plus, native speakers make mistakes, too!

So, how does one achieve continuous improvement? Here are a few ways:

• Celebrate small wins! I’ve heard this phrase most often when referring to weight-loss goals. You might have a goal to lose 20 pounds (9 kg), and a really motivating way to get there is by celebrating at 5 pounds (2.25 kg) with something that makes you feel good, whether that’s a spa day, a new pair of shoes, a new game, or whatever helps you feel rewarded for your progress.
• Similarly, Celebrate your small failures. Celebrate them as an important milestone, then refocus and learn from them to move forward in a smart way.
• Most importantly, Begin! Put your fears and long-term agenda aside and go for it. That’s how you will learn and that’s how you will achieve your goals!

I’d love to hear some of your stories about your journey, how taking it one step at a time helped you achieve your goals, and anything you learned along the way. Share it with me in the comments or on Instagram @coleBhappy. I can’t wait to hear all about it!

Photos from Unsplash artists Lindsay Henwood and Elena Koycheva!