You Don't Have to be Perfect
By Christina Gillick

“Benjamin Barber, an eminent sociologist, once said, ‘I don’t divide the world into the weak and the strong, or the successes and the failures … I divide the world into the learners and nonlearners.’”

Christina Gillick back again for this week’s discussion of mindset.

This quote is great for improving your mindset because it doesn’t focus on whether you succeed or not. It focuses on whether you’re willing to learn and improve or not.

A lot of people imagine success like this:

1. Learn everything
2. Reach perfection
3. Set an attainable goal
4. Accomplish the goal

But, having a fixed mindset — in which you have to learn everything and be perfect to start — will keep you in the learning phase forever.

If you study successful people, you’ll notice they have a growth mindset. Their journeys go something like this:

1. Set a limit-stretching goal
2. Learn enough to take action
3. Take action despite fear
4. Continuously improve or grow
5. Keep repeating Steps 2-4 until the goal is achieved

No one starts out perfect. And, very few people — even those who have achieved great success — will claim to be perfect now.

We all — even six-figure copywriters and beyond — are still improving. The best practice daily. When they reach their goals, they go back to Step 1 and set new, bigger goals.

Many successful people will also say they enjoy the journey.

Here are five things to make your own journey more enjoyable:

1. Understand that nobody knows everything. It’s impossible because there’s so much to learn — and more every day. Make a commitment to learn what you need to know to take the first step. Then take that step.
2. Consider that practicing is one of the best ways to learn — and it’s even better when you’re getting paid. Don’t just learn how to do something, do it.
3. Be open to opportunity. Sometimes opportunities will cross your path that you never considered before. For example, maybe you want to write sales copy for a certain company, but the only project they have at the moment is an article. Jump on it! You never know where it will lead.
4. Celebrate each little success along the way. Each time your confidence will grow. But, of course, you have to take action to have success.
5. Keep improving your mindset as you head towards your goals. Remember, you should always be improving — turning negative thoughts into positive ones. Any mistakes or setbacks are learning opportunities.

How is your journey going? Join the conversation here.