Being real.

Some years back I was part of a university think-tank. In small groups on the day we were asked to write attributes of the kind of people we wanted to be, the kind of people we wanted students to be, the kind of people we needed in society.
Long, long lists were generated. Of the perfect superhuman (think Resident Evil).
And it came to me — in the search to describe it, the perfect person, we missed the real person.
It came to me that what we need, you and I and everyone else, is to be real, not perfect.
Think about it. Real people mess up sometimes. Real people fail. Sure. But real people , you and me, just get up and get moving. We keep trying, not to impress others, but to make a difference in our work and life and in the work and lives of others.
Real people make mistakes but real people also learn from mistakes. And when we make the same mistake, we laugh, acknowledge it, and we learn yet again.
Real people therefore are comfortable to be around. They are not perfect automatons (let robots do that for you). They are creatively messy and creatively organised, all at the same time. They have room for error and for growth.
And because they are not virtual paragons of perfection, real people encourage others. If they can give it a go then so can I, we say to ourselves. The job or the goal or the success, we realise, doesn’t require superhuman will but steps and growths, without fear of failure.
Real people exercise real power. Change is effected when we throw away our superhuman capes and work on what we do and how we do it.
Real growth, in personal life and in business, happens when we acknowledge the reality of possible failure — and do it anyway. When we aren’t scared of success but also aren’t driven by a fear of being unsuccessful, because we know the truth. That, in reality, we will make mistakes and may fail, but will also always learn and grow.
Ultimately, that is success.
