Meandering Mind Messy Action Sprint: 13 weeks to beat my perfectionism paralysis
Has content about The Big Lock In from September 1st to December 1st been all over your socials?
Cos yeah, me too 🤪 And honestly, this sort of thing happens around this time every year. But for so many of us neurodivergent, disabled, and chronically ill people, these "lock-ins" aren't easy. They often demand that we hustle hard and push ourselves, ignoring the rest that we need all year round, but especially in the autumn and winter.
However, I decided that starting this September 1st, I'm going to try my own version, using the 12 Week Year planning method, which I also literally just discovered in the past couple of weeks lol.
But I'm not doing it to hustle, create "streaks" of checking off habits every day, even if it means I have to push myself past my limits to make it happen—nooooo thanks. I'm doing it for 4 (main) reasons that I want to share with you, and keep you updated on over the next 13 weeks (yes, it's called the 12 Week Year but there are actually 13 weeks until the end of November).
Before I tell you about my 4 Big Reasons, I want to be very transparent. I've set some BIG goals for myself to achieve over the next 3 months. And I'm not going to complete all of them. I know that already, 4 days in, having skipped some things already. Which brings me to my first reason…
1. Escape the perfectionism paralysis
My biggest roadblock in my business is perfectionism & overthinking. Like, I've just gotta MOVE a bit more—quicker, before I think I’m ready, and with messy, imperfect intention (Dreamium & Parade with the amazing Ceels Lockley has been helping me with this a lot already, and it's something I want to keep building on.)
Something I've noticed is that I struggle with task initiation, task switching, and sticking to the amount of time I want to spend actually completing a task. Like, I very easily spend 5x as long as actually needed on a task because I’m worrying about getting it perfect more than getting it out there in the world, where it can start getting feedback and consequent refinement.
2. Consistency > perfectionism
As already mentioned, I've not set these goals thinking I'll achieve them all. I know I won't, and I'm practising being ok with what we're taught to see as "failure". Reframing my thought process so that if I set a goal and 'only' achieve 75%, that's still a success, because I actually showed up.
We're taught to view and approach habits and goals in all-or-nothing terms. Why bother unless you know you're going to smash it out of the park, right? We’re SO obsessed with streaks and doing something every single day without fail—and if we do miss a day, the streak is ruined and might as well give up.
I’m doing this to build healthy, maintainable habits, aim for greater consistency, and allow myself to have fluctuations in how much I get done from one week to the next.
3. Get to know my brain even better.
I've already spent a long time getting to know how I think, work, and where I tend to come up against roadblocks. But I want to understand myself better—especially that perfectionist part of my brain that keeps getting in my way.
So I'm going to be asking myself questions like:
Which goals do I hit more easily than others?
Which habits are easier for me to show up and complete consistently?
Is there a commonality between the things that are easy and the things that I struggle to get done?
Does the way I break up goals into tasks and schedule them work well for me? How can I make it easier to get projects off the ground and out in the world in the future?
How long does it actually take me to do things like write sales pages, newsletters, blog posts, when I’m focusing on imperfect action? How can I use this to plan future projects and goals? How does it change throughout the year and different seasons?
I want data that I can reflect on and use to help me plan future goals for myself that are realistic for me and my energy capacity and other life commitments.
4. Leading by example, refining my own methods and tools.
I always wanna practise what I preach to my clients. More than that, I always want to be learning, growing, and refining my methods and tools I share with my clients to help them achieve their own goals.
…just like I teach my clients with my Anti-Perfectionism Planning method that you get to know inside my Rebalancing Review support offer.
But just like our systems, our offers and resources are never a one-and-done kind of deal. I'm always looking for fun new ways to refine and improve what I've already created, ways to make things more adaptable and customisable for my clients unique needs and ways of thinking and working (cos our lovely community of neurodivergent, disabled, and chronically ill solopreneurs is so deeply varied and individual, I want to support that when you work with me!)
So my goal with this 13 week sprint is to try out some of the cool ideas I'd like to incorporate into my Anti-Perfectionism Planning method, test them out on myself first, and then upgrade my client support resources.
Anyway, the reason I'm sharing this picture of using a new system and setting some big, hard-to-achieve goals for myself is ultimately this:
→ I want to show you that us systems pros have to trial and experiment with our own systems, too——but that’s all part of the fun and how we improve our tools and methods to better help you!
I'm a problem solver. I'm someone who loves a little experiment. And I love creating an environment that normalises that imperfect, messy action for my clients, too. Trying out an idea together and saying "OK, this kind of worked, but there are still a few kinks for us to work out. How about we try this version instead?"
I'm already noticing some really cool changes to the way I work and tackle projects and goals in my business (and personal life, which I'm using this method for, too), so I'm going to aim to share weekly updates on how it goes with you—but hey, there'll probably be some weeks missed, because consistency isn't about getting 100% 😉
