Stop Waiting for the Perfect Time

When I decided to go on the Atkins diet the day after Thanksgiving, my wife was less than enthusiastic. "This is a lousy time to go on a diet! We have Rachel's party next week, then our Anniversary, then Riker's birthday, then Christmas - it's impossible to stay on a diet right now!" She was right, and I'd made similar statements in the past. But...is there ever a perfect time to go on a diet?

With a major holiday virtually every month and a birthday party, or three, six months out of the year, when IS the perfect time? Particularly Atkins, the no-carb, no-sugar diet designed to change your body's fat-burning chemistry, where one little cheat throws you out of whack for at least a day. This was a horrible time to start it.

But I did anyway - and so did she.

For the first time, I've actually stuck to it enough to see results. I'm on six days, off one (which isn't the plan per se, but it has worked for me). After 16 days I'm down 18 lbs. It's been a roller coaster with the off days, waking up two days later up 3 lbs, then down 3 the next, but its real. I'm down one pants size, and am confident I can lose 25 or more lbs by the end of the year. Ultimately, I'm looking at dropping another 6-8 inches off my waist, and another 60 lbs.

The diet is just one example. When writing Win Place & Show and Go Ahead and Laugh, I would sit and wait to be in the perfect mood, to have the perfect atmosphere, and the perfect silence before writing. This resulted in nothing getting done for long stretches. When I finally ditched the perfection scenario, I was able to finish the books quickly.

I'm not sure where this vision of perfection comes from, but my top suspect is the media. From the perfect Thanksgiving dinners by Norman Rockwell on the Saturday Evening Post to moments of romance, success, and victory punctuated by perfect lighting and music, we are inundated with the concept that we should be a part of, and possibly defined by, perfect moments.

Most of us can think back through our lives and remember a perfect moment or two. Maybe winning a competition, or the cool fall night that punctuated our first kiss, or the moment we first held our child. The key to that is 'think back'. Perfection is often an illusion that comes in hindsight - we edit out the imperfect moments that surrounded the few seconds of bliss and victory.

If you're waiting until the time is perfect to make your move, you'll likely never move. Success comes in the midst of chaos when we choose to act while everyone else is panicking. When we take the winning shot whether its open or not. Even when we diet during the holidays.

Champions of Choice, embrace the perfect imperfection of the present reality, and you'll be well on your way to creating many perfect moments to imperfectly remember down the road. After all, there's never a perfect time to diet, but there's always a perfect time to be down 18 lbs!

A Lesson From Brooklyn

Last night, right before our 'family meeting', where we download our day, do a brief Bible study, and send the kids off to bed after a prayer, I asked my two year old to pick up the 30 or so wooden blocks she'd strewn across the living room.

She started by picking up one block, walking to the drawer, dropping it in, and going to retrieve another block. Soon, she started putting a block in each hand, doubling her productivity. She was up to three, then four at a time. When she tried five, they came spilling out over the floor. She still had two in her grasp, put those away, and returned to put away the other 3 blocks.

As I watched her, I was hit by a few different thoughts:

1) She was choosing to learn with each step
2) She was willing to deviate from what worked, to discover what would work better
3) When something didn't work, she didn't quit, she just adjusted back a notch to what did work. No time for self-loathing or frustration.

Its easy to get caught up in the desire to make 'perfect' choices. That drive for perfection, however, can sabotage improvement by creating fear of failure. At two-years-old, Brooklyn isn't tainted by perfectionism yet. She's still adjusting her choices on the run. Are you?

If only we knew now what we knew then.