Recently, a friend of mine commented on my branding exercise and said ‘so you’re doing all these stuff, creating videos, helping people, improving self .. you must be nearly perfect’. It was then that stuck me, are people really thinking that ?

I mean I’m happy if people are calling me perfect but that is totally the opposite of who I am. I am what they call ‘perfectly imperfect; and I love it!

As humans we are always in the process of growing. We are perhaps, the only species on earth who are constantly striving to get better at things we do. We are biologically wired to adapt the environment and grow with it. So if we are constantly growing, do we ever become perfect in our lifetime? Absolutely not. Because if you think you achieved perfection, then there is no room for growth.

You see, we create expectations in every area of our lives and we often feel miserable because we are unable to live upto our own self. Life’s predicament is that we know what is right for us yet we fail to do what’s right. We know what is wrong for us yet we fail to avoid it.

Coming back to the question that was put to me, here’s what I learnt from my imperfections that could be a lesson to you.

The more you embrace your imperfections, the more you will be sensitive towards other’s imperfections.

When you accept other’s imperfections, your expectations will begin to wane and you will find space for peace and joy in your life. So here are three things you can do to embrace your imperfections.

Learn from mistakes

When you make mistakes for the first time, instead of blaming others or even yourself, try and see what went wrong and learn from that so you know what to avoid in future. See if you can get to the root of the mistake. Then you can understand and improve the choices you make.

So to get to the root cause you can use a popular technique called the ‘Five Whys’. This is an effective management tool but you can use it in practically every area of you life.

Inspite of all analysis, if you repeat the same mistake then its not called as a mistake, that’s a blunder. Know the difference

Map your weakness

Can you make a list of all your weaknesses? If you’re like me, you will have a long list and you will make it fast. Now look at that list and see how many of them are really your weaknesses. There could be few items in that list that are good to have, probably that is making you unique. Now from this list highlight how many can you improve? Treat this list as a reference point like a to-do and work on it.

I say this all the time, transformation happens once you become aware. So now you know which area to work on, look for mentors/teachers who can help you get better at it.

This exercise will shift away your focus from labelling them as a weakness to calling them Work in Progress.

Now, can you make a list of your strengths? (smile)

Laugh at yourself

Life is short. When you exert energy on perfecting things that are beyond your control you will not only become negative but also waste precious time thats ticking away. When you have choice to laugh or cry. I suggest you laugh.

So the next time when you are embarrassed by your action, think of the situation as a funny movie and laugh out loud. When you laugh at yourself you not only erase awkwardness of others around you but also it eases the pressure of being perfect.

I’d like to conclude with a quote from Jeff Bridges “Imperfection and perfection go so hand in hand, and our dark and our light are so intertwined, that by trying to push the darkness or the so-called negative aspects of our life to the side… we are preventing ourselves from the fullness of life.”

Embrace your imperfections and experience the richness of your life. 🙂

Watch the video version of this blog here