Greatness Over Perfection

Day 2/90

I sent out my first email yesterday and I felt extremely confident in the whole process. I just sat down, started writing, and more than I thought ended up on paper. I read and reread the whole thing multiple times. I navigated the mailing platform and got the email sent.

A few hours later my boyfriend read the email and he had to point out the one spelling mistake. Instead of ‘hold’, I typed ‘hod’.

I felt physically distressed. I messed up. After all those rereads and I still had a single spelling mistake. How could I let this happen??? I’ve turned in 13 page research papers without a single mistake. A lousy 850 word email should certainly not contain an error.

And the first email too?? What does that say about me? Clearly it’s not perfect and now I wish I could take it back from all your inboxes because even one single mistake made in public is unacceptable.

I did feel slightly defeated. I had high expectations of myself and managed to do something I thought I was skilled enough to avoid.

In the past, this would have eaten me alive. Sent me into full anxiety mode, kicked it into perfectionism high gear, and would be on my list of things I remember forever.

And as much as I hate that it happened, now all my head goes to is - mistakes happen. I’m human, not a robot. I made a spelling mistake, something so insignificant in the grand scheme of things.


And you know what… it feels pretty good to know that I don’t have to beat myself up over this. That it has no reflection on who I am as a writer and I’m not less because of it.

It feels like the first true evidence that I don’t care to be perfect anymore. It’s not what I strive for, and I don’t need to be viewed as perfect.


If we make one mistake, we are no longer perfect. That’s all it takes to miss that mark.

But we could make a million mistakes and still be great. So, greatness is the new bar I’ve set for myself.

Because I know there will be more errors down the line, but as long as I keep showing up, I can achieve greatness.

And I’m content with that.


Thanks for listening.

Warmly,
Meg
peaceful Heretic