Here I am, just a week after posting New Year’s Resolutions in which one resolution was to write in my blog at least once a week, and already I’ve almost let a week pass without writing a post. Any website, particularly weblogs, can be considered dead sites if not updated regularly.
Just why is it that so soon after making a written public commitment to something I have almost failed to follow through on that commitment? Quite simply, I have tended to be a perfectionist. In striving to find a perfect topic to post about or create something absolutely awe-inspiring, the inevitable result is that this search for perfection caused a hindrance of action.
You don’t have to be a perfectionist to empathize with my tendencies. Why do so many people fail to keep their yearly resolutions? That one cigarette leads to a return to the habit. One skipped workout leads to an unused gym membership. The frustration at perfectly following the resolution paralyzes progress in fulfilling the overall goal.
Many of my proudest accomplishments came about when I dropped the need to be perfect, stopped fearing failure, and moved forward. I’m no Edgar Allan Poe. Every word in my blog post need not be as significant as each word in one of Poe’s works of art. So, forgive yourself if you slip in that one smoke or sneak in an extra slice of cake. Accept that mistakes do happen and then move on. Don’t abandon your goals if you encounter a setback. Just remember to get back on track once you forgive yourself.
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