Imperfect Consistency

What does imperfect consistency look like to you?

Do you hesitate in getting things done because of the standards that you set for yourself and or your team?

A while ago, I made a decision to drop perfectionism. This was a conscious decision and a growth tool. Making this decision allowed me to focus on getting tasks completed. An example of this would be my podcast, The Burnout Recovery Podcast.

It’s been 18 months now of producing this medium in the hope to reach people who need help navigating burnout. If I was focussed on how perfect the podcast was or how I sounded, how confident I was etc. I would have put it off.

It is a real attitude of having ‘imperfect consistency or a mindset of ‘imperfect consistency’ that has helped me to start this podcast and continue to produce it and whilst at times it has been far from perfect, I have produced over 60 episodes, interviewed over 25 industry leaders and reached over 14K downloads. I have achieved this by having an imperfect consistent mindset. If I was still planning and perfecting the podcast I wonder how far I would have progressed?

I am involved in Bathurst Health Services in setting up ‘Schwartz Rounds’, which are spaces for compassion within healthcare providers.

All members across all the different departments in the hospital are invited to participate in a monthly Schwartz session.

It was suggested we do this bi-monthly, get it kicking along and nail it, perfectly. I suggested how about we go for ‘imperfect consistency’.

What are the benefits of this? Well, it means we’re showing up more regularly. In a forum that brings connection, support and understanding and seeing similarities in the human experience as a healthcare provider in a hospital environment I suggested ‘Let’s do it imperfectly but consistently and I know that we’ll do our damn best to show up and carry out the best version of the ‘Schwartz rounds’ that we can, even though nearly all of us are new to this method of staff connection and collaboration. What’s more, we are backing our own expertise and abilities as each of us brings strength in individual ways.

In closing, I invite you to reflect on where you want to be? Or what you might like to be doing? Why don’t you start? Is it perfectionism that is stopping you? Switching your attitude and mindset from perfectionism and not being ready, to imperfect consistency could be the change you need.

If you're ready to make a change, reach out to me via this directory - let's combat perfectionism together.

Here is a podcast episode I did on this topic.