Week 38: Imperfection (The Bullet Journal Method Book Club)

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Hello Sunshine!

Here we are: the last section for Part 3! It’s all about imperfection with strategies to help us overcome these perfectionist tendencies.

Resources:

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Imperfection

Pages 222 - 228

Welcome to week 38 of The Bullet Journal Method Book Club!

Do you struggle with perfection and making your work perfect? “Perfection is an unnatural and damaging concept…the idea of perfection all too often sabotages our ability to become who we have the potential to be.” It can often hold us in a vice. “Failing to be perfect is one of our biggest sources of self-loathing. It’s intentionality gone bad, where we spend time and energy undoing our progress. We tear up our plans, recommit to counterproductive behaviors, and empower our inner critic. The big misconception is that the alternative to perfection is failure.” It’s not failure, but perhaps imperfection. For example, wabi-sabi is “the beauty of an object is found in its imperfection. By celebrating transience, the universal changing nature of all things, wabi-sabi champions a forgiving path with limitless opportunities to progress.” This is helpful because “embracing our imperfection puts the emphasis back where it should be: continual improvement. This mindset turns mistakes from land mines into street signs, pointing us toward where we need to go.” To overcome perfection, consider:

Practicing Imperfection:

Create an “Imperfection Collection.” Add anything. This is a place where you can let loose and “do what you fear would make your notebook feel flawed.” It’s for you.

Good Change:

Aim for mastery. “Mastery, unlike perfection, embraces both transience and imperfection, because it is a process, a state of being, not an end goal.” You can continually improve your skills. Everyone starts off somewhere and first attempts are usually messy. To improve yourself, ask yourself small questions. What’s some way you can improve? “Every action is a step up from where you were. It doesn’t matter how small the steps are, or if you stumble along the way. What matters is that you continue to step up.” Begin.

Discussion: 

  • Do you have perfectionist tendencies?

  • If so, how?

  • What’s one way you could improve today?

Action List:

  • Create an “Imperfection Collection” and add something to it.

  • Ask yourself small questions each day about one way you could improve. Make this into a Task or Goal.

  • Keep track of the progress you make with your Task or Goal in your Bullet Journal.

Your thoughts:

Share your thoughts about this week’s topic in the comments below. Feel free to respond to this week’s discussion points.

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