Jen Kranjec
Trading in Perfection for Balance & Growth

When we let go of needing to be perfect
We open the door to learning, and growth,
To actually coming closer to the person we want to be,
Which is maybe what we’re really striving for.
We’ve just been lead to believe that fulfillment comes from doing it “right” according to external standards.
But, what if, the fulfillment you yearn for comes from being exactly you, who is a growing, sometimes erring, human being?
Growing nonetheless.
And triumphing much of the time, too.
When we let go of needing to be perfect we can be honest with ourselves finally.
We can more readily see the areas we want to improve, and take action.
The perfectionist approach requires a denial of these very growth opportunities:
“If I can grow here, then that means I’m not good enough yet.”
Perhaps underneath perfectionism is the fear of not being good enough…
So, if we can swap needing to be perfect for a more honest acceptance of our sometimes erring, sometimes triumphing humanness, then instead we can work more towards growth and balance.
Each "mess up" becomes a beautiful gift, after you can shake off the embarrassment or pain, whatever naturally arises.
Don’t get stuck in the feelings of fumbling.
It’s natural to feel bummed sometimes when things don't go as planned.
Find the chuckle.
Find the gem of what you learned.
Don’t rush this part, really let yourself see the whole picture.
What’s operating in you to lead you to this moment…
Don’t just pick the top off the weed, get the entire root.
And then take the next step,
Forward~
I love the idea of balancing.
We’re never at a final point of completion with something in this lifetime.
Which is often an underlying part of the endless striving in a perfectionist mindset.
I like to think of it as less of a static point of completion and more of a dancing with our center.
Consider what you imagine to be this perfect point of arrival.
Then picture yourself balancing around this point, forever.
Never getting there to a static arrival.
Because that would no longer be life.
There's no static end besides death,
And that's just the physical end...
So to be alive is to be balancing, dancing with life, pivoting, learning, growing, incorporating…
Give yourself this gift.
Let go of needing to arrive.
Allow yourself to be exactly where you are.
In that spaciousness of forgiveness and embrace,
Then you will see what you want to do next
In order to serve your greatest wellbeing on this path of balance and growth.
And when we truly accept this approach, a forever balancing, we can choose to open to more joy and goodness in the process, if you want to.
Keep going friends, and find the chuckle in the fumble…