In this weekly series called ‘Monday Motivation’, I challenge myself to write a short motivational blog article to kick start a great week. I will no doubt draw on lessons I have learned from one of my own personal favourite reading genres, self-help, but also from life. Rest assured, the motivational message is just as much for me as it is for my reader! As always, your feedback and ideas are warmly welcomed.
This morning I felt too tired to write anything. I felt out of ideas, like everything I was going to write would be terrible and not worth posting. That may be true, but what if I decided to do it anyway?Whether your goal is exercise, language learning, improving routines, visiting friends and family more often, most goals and objectives can be applied to the “do it badly” philosophy. As a recovering perfectionist, this is now the only way I can accomplish ambitious goals whilst preserving my mental health. If you’re interested in cutting yourself some slack whilst being more productive than ever, I’ve detailed the three most important things to follow in order to “do it badly” and be the best version of yourself… eventually.
Choose your objective carefully
I have made a commitment to myself that I would write every day, no matter whether I was writing something ‘worthy’ or not. My objective is to write, not to write well. You may think, if we are out here setting goals, why not raise your standards a little bit and try to write often and well? I understand your point, hypothetical person. Of course, I would also love to ‘write well’. However, the objective is about consistency over quality, with the hope that quality will arise over time and with practice. In fact, the reality is, I am actually not in control of how ‘well’ I write anyway, only the time and effort I put into it. Yes, I suppose I could take a course or engage a mentor to give me feedback. Which I may indeed do in the future. However, I strongly believe that if you are struggling with a lofty goal, something like ‘become a writer’, let’s say, then you should start from the simplest first step. For me, that very simple first step is, well, write. As I am still at the beginning stage of this journey, I have chosen simply ‘write’ as my objective. Well, that’s not strictly true. My objective is to ‘write daily for one hour’. The time constraints anchor me and keep me accountable. If my goal were simply to ‘write’, it would still be just an idea in my head. I suppose I think of it as a sort of recipe: choose the simplest version of the goal, add a time constraint (how often, how long for), and then add this step somewhere into a pre-existing routine. For me, I get up an hour earlier and write for an hour each day. For you, you may wish to read more. First objective is ‘read’, add ‘every day for 20 minutes’, then ‘before bed’. It doesn’t matter what you read, just ‘read’ and build the muscle. Speaking of, you may wish to get fitter. The simplest first step could be something like ‘walk’, then ‘walk daily for half an hour’ then ‘after work’. Yes, it might not be reducing your food intake, training for a 10K run and getting a person trainer. But it is step one, and it is much better to ‘do it badly’ than to not do it at all.
Give yourself the credit
Importantly, once you are ‘doing the thing’, you should give yourself the credit. Don’t lament how badly you are doing it, simply rejoice that you are doing it at all. Last week, I didn’t write at all. Today, I wrote a mediocre Motivational Monday post and released it on my blog! What a win! Tomorrow, maybe I’ll be 100 words further along in a novel I would not have even started yet had I not started my daily writing a few months ago. A novel! How exciting, what a worthwhile way to spend my time. Is it any good? Will it be published? Who knows, and at this stage in the journey, who cares? I’m further along than I was, and that’s all that matters. If I continued to look at my progress and remind myself of how new and inexperienced I was, I would give up as quickly as I started. When you commit to the ‘doing it badly (or not at all)’ method, you commit to celebrating small wins. In fact, scratch that, celebrating all wins. This is not, as some my think, about embracing mediocrity. It is about celebrating drive, which is the key to achieving most things. Beats skill almost every single time. Skill with no drive is a missed opportunity. Drive with no skill is a sure road to my very favourite word: ‘yet’. It’s not that I’ve not reached my goal, I’ve just not reached it yet. I’ve got a few more years of ‘doing it badly’ to go.
Increase the challenge level at the right time
Now, perfectionists, don’t get too excited about this step. Increasing the challenge level at the wrong time was my MO for a while, and it led to burnout and demotivation. Increasing the level of challenge for yourself in relation to your goals is very important, but it has to be done at the right time. Don’t get me wrong, I am a firm believer in moving outside of your comfort zone. However, when it comes to long-term goal setting, finding the sweet spot between challenge and achievability is key. For example, say ‘I want to own a successful business’ is your goal. Perhaps quitting your job right away and throwing yourself into the deep end it not the answer. Or ‘I want to run a marathon’ is the goal. Trying to run long-distance at the beginning is a very bad idea. The long-term end point can be ambitious, but how you achieve it needs to be realistic. For your business, you may start with a simple goal of ‘daily market research for one hour’. Then you move on to the next thing you can build into your routine, maybe ‘drafting business plan for 3 hours every Sunday’. You may even be able to add these two things simultaneously to your routine. You will know yourself when the market research has become too comfortable and it’s time to move on. This is the point where you review, set the next goal, and get working. Whatever you are working on should always bring a little bit of discomfort. When it gets too easy, this is when you should increase the challenge level. Increase the distance or speed of your run. That way, you know you are doing the right thing when you are ‘doing it badly’.
I hope this article has been a rather motivational ‘Motivational Monday’ read! I hope you enjoyed reading my very own version of ‘doing it badly’ and it may inspire you to ‘do something badly’ yourself today! Have a great start to the week.
Linggow 
Thanks for that Erin….so helpful 🙏🏼
This gives me confidence to continue my slow and laborious piano journey every day. The rewards will come….
You keep writing and I’ll continue playing, who knows what the next few years might bring. 🥰
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