Pursue excellence but don’t seek perfection.

There is a version of well known saying that ‘A job worth doing is worth doing well’ that says ‘A job worth doing is worth doing badly’ meaning that it is better to achieve something than nothing, even if end result is not perfect.

There is some truth in that, but in reality anything other than your best effort is just not good enough. You owe it to yourself and to others to always give of your best . It would be better to say ‘A job worth doing is worth doing well, even if result is less than perfect’. Some sort of flawed solution is often better than none at all. If we always insisted on perfection we would start very little and complete even less.

So, do your best always. Aim to produce best you can, but don’t agonise over those areas where you fall short. Learn from them, improve in future, but at time just note them and move on.

Be objective.

This relates back to previous point about seeking perfection. Be realistic about what can be done. Be realistic about your own and your team’s capabilities. Don’t promise to do what you know cannot be done. But be enthusiastic too. Approach challenges with an infectious enthusiasm. Be prepared to learn new skills. Encourage your team to do same. If you set about tackling challenges with determination and enthusiasm you will achieve more than you ever knew you could.

Don’t dwell on past.

Don’t spend your time reliving past successes or agonising over past failures. Live in here and now and take things as they are in present. You should learn from past, but you cannot change it. Look to present and to future.

Work smarter, not longer.

Don’t kill yourself with excessively long hours. Don’t inflict them on your team either. Look for better ways to do things. Look for new methods, better equipment, more sensible aims. Both you and your team will work better if you are fresh instead of tired. Enlist help of your team for suggestions. Harness their enthusiasm and resourcefulness. In end you will all produce better work if you are rested and keen than if you are worn out and depressed.

So if you are in that rut, lift yourself out, decide on a new start, and inspire yourself and your team to new heights of achievement.

What if I ignored this problem? What would happen? What if I walked away from it, gave it some time and came back? What would happen? What if I gave this to someone else to happen? Would that work?

Now, you can certainly get more specific in your questions than this. With practice you will get better. Remember that your subconscious might not allow you to consider all options possible. Really work on coming up with all options available to you -no matter how crazy they may seem. Once you have all your options, rate them for possibility. Obviously, some will not be usable. Some will be brilliantly simple and exact answer that has eluded you all along!

Ask for help from friends, coworkers, family or your coach to add to your option, sort them out, and implement solutions.

The great thing about doing this exercise is that you immediately get a sense that you do have options!

And that in itself solves a big part of problem. As always, Your online Coach and Friend,

Miami Phillips www.creativemasterminds.com Helping owners and entrpreneurs have more profit and less headaches coach@creativemasterminds.com Quotation of week: Every time you don't follow your inner guidance, you feel a loss of energy, loss of power, a sense of spiritual deadness. Shakti Gawain

Miami Phillips is an ANSIR Certified Personal Coach and founder of Creative MasterMinds who believes personal growth is an essential ingredient to being happy and contributing to this world. While his main focus is affordable personal and business coaching, he also offers motivational teleclasses, ebooks, reading recommendations and much more. To find out more visit his site at http://www.creativemasterminds.com or send him an email at coach@creativemasterminds.com