9 years ago I did my yoga teacher training. I had been a practitioner for 11 years before that. I thought I had to be an “expert” before I could become a teacher.
I turned up to that first teacher training session realising all I needed at best two years of regular practice, and a boatload of confidence and belief in myself. I shouldn’t have waited so long.
For anyone familiar with yogic practices, being perfect is not a concept. I'd got it all wrong.
Enjoying the journey and not end-gaming was part of the ease of the practice. And I was sorely lacking in the philosophical side. Which would have taught me I was placing unnecessary pressure on myself. The opposite of what yoga stood for. The practice of Yoga, as I later learned, is the union of individual consciousness with that of Universal Consciousness, indicating a perfect harmony between the mind and body. I was fixated on being excellent at the physical Asanas (the postures).
What I learned in the years of being a teacher in the 9 years since, was that it’s ok not to be the best at said asanas, not to know it all, but having the ability to bring people together through a common goal and sense of community.
Fast forward to becoming a Consultant, I had also delayed this journey, thinking I needed to be “better”, and have “more experience”. (If I can’t do it after 22 years when can I?).
The fact is we are never “perfect”. We are never the finished article. And if we thought we were, then we wouldn’t be learning anymore, and that’s the most precious thing that I can see. Having the curiosity to keep learning, and realising that I don’t know it all.
I thought I could wait until I've got my website up and running, my brand nailed, and my proposals looking the business. But from what I've learned from SaaS start-ups, in particular, there’s no time to wait to be “perfect”. You just have to try things, and get going!
Utilising that philosophy, as hard as it might be for a natural perfectionist, I’ve had to relax into the knowledge that it’s ok to just get going on a journey!
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