The Mirage That Will Keep You In The Desert
“Everything you do consciously is preserved for you. Everything you do mechanically, since you did not do it, is lost.” –Maurice Nicoll
Perfectionism is the height of mechanical thinking.
It is the mirage that will keep you in the desert.
It is the oasis that will never satisfy your thirst.
The idea that things must be of a certain undefined or unreachable quality is torturous.
So why do we fall into this trap and how do we escape?
Often the mirage is more comforting to look at then the desert we find ourselves stuck in.
We can only escape this trap by having the courage to look outside the mirage.
This type of exploration is always painful at first. The voice of doubt sounds loudly when we dare look outside the mirage of perfectionism.
“Where is the water!?” “When will I ever create something that will LAST!?”
Chances are you’ve been close to escaping the mirages and deserts of a dry life, but you keep falling back into their trap.
The mirage of “perfectionism” is exacerbated by our digital media-obsessed world.
Each perfect image, story, or piece of media we see that’s highly produced leads us further into the desert. We forget that we don’t have a huge team and amount of resources around our own creations. Judgment seeps in, and it’s not long before we’re comparing Apples to Oranges.
This is why detoxing from news and social media can be so valuable. How many images of manufactured “perfection” have you been taking in? The answers can be hard to face.
When we detox from the mirage of highly produced digital media, we lose our addiction to perfectionism.
When we get clean from this addiction, we lose the craving that our creations will meet ALL of our needs.
We lose the desire to find a “why” in the mirage that will make everything right in the real world.
When we live in the pursuit of perfection, we lead either a quiet life of desperation or a loud, self-destructive life of pursuit. But when we get clean from this addiction and step out of the mirage we find…
Peace.
We find a world we haven’t explored in a long time. We might even find that reality and other people are much more friendly then we’ve been taught in the mirage.
In the throws of perfectionism, you are your own worst abuser. You are the one who prevents you from being happy, from really exploring your skills, your power, your relationships.
The way out of the desert is through becoming content with imperfection.
What “imperfections” really are is the stuff that makes originals.
Imperfections are our opportunity to see the world, others, and self as they really exist. In those moments our mind revolts or creates stories on why not to look. And in those moments we have a chance to see each other. When we see each other we have an opportunity to recognize truth. We have an opportunity to heal.
Imperfection isn’t about lowering your standards. It’s about seeing what is, in order to correctly appreciate the now. In the present moment when you’re not grasping for a better moment, your defenses are down. Cortisol isn’t running through your system. In those moments, we have opportunities to be participants in co-creating the next moment. In those moments, we can chart a course out of the desert.
By giving up on perfectionism, and allowing for imperfection, you’ll make it out of the desert. Perfectionism and digital media can become intense addictions. But you have the power to get clean from them and chart a course out of the mirage.
If you’re brave enough to walk out of the desert, who knows what will be on the other side?
This Week In Audio
Tune in to the latest episodes from across our podcast network! 🎧🎙
Hot In Tech:
- The Data Chief Podcast — A new show that shares interviews with the world’s top data and analytics leaders at the helm of the data revolution.
- Using Data to Build a Secure Future — How one lab crunches data to secure the US’s nuclear stockpile and shape the future.
- Artificial Intelligence’s Role in Business — The right way to deploy and increase AI use in organizations. Plus, the future of the industry.
- Technology and the Climate Crisis — Technology is helping connect organizations all over the world, and that’s exactly what the planet needs.
In The Biz World:
- Recommitting to the Forgotten Employee — The Staffbase team on company culture, communication, and connecting all employees.
- The Key to Local SEO — Collin Holmes, CEO of Chatmeter, talks SEO, building brand recognition locally, and communication in times of crisis.
- Creating Community in Times of Crisis — How you can stay in touch with clients and employees during COVID-19.
- Solving the Production Equation — Tips for getting from idea to production line with Bill Gamber, founder of Big Agnes.
Friday Funday
ICYMI — We launched a new podcast called The Data Chief! In each episode, you get to meet one of the world’s top data and analytics leaders transforming how we use technology and do business. For more details, and to subscribe, go here.
A big shout out to ThoughtSpot for making The Data Chief (and this newsletter) possible! With ThoughtSpot, anyone in your organization can easily answer their own data questions, find the facts, and make better, faster decisions. Learn more at thoughtspot.com.
That’s it for this week’s newsletter! Let us know what stories, news, and themes you want us to cover in the newsletter and on the pods by emailing info@mission.org or finding us on the socials @TheMissionHQ!
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