Perfection Through Imperfection

Greetings happy people,

I have a confession to tell all of you today. I make mistakes. In my 33 (soon to be 34) years of life, I have made plenty of mistakes. From the time I was born to where I am right now, mistakes are something that I am used to creating. Whether it is in something I say or do, a mistake is surely bound to happen. If I don’t notice my own mistake, I let people remind me of the various mistakes I make. For me, making mistakes are endless. It may sound like I am hard on myself, but I am not. As a matter of fact, I encourage myself to make mistakes. Sounds crazy? I don’t think so. I will give you a story on why I welcome my own mistakes.

A good example is my own experience of being a Chief Judge for an Area Toastmasters contest yesterday. It was my first time handling a role of this magnitude. Was preparation involved in this responsibility? Of course! Through different club contests, I prepared by either serving as a Chief Judge or helping other people in that similar role.

Thanks to the club level experience, I had a game plan set up for what I wanted done at the Area level. To make things easier for people, I created simple steps on how to fill out a judging ballot, how to start timing a speech, and how to work with the vote counting system. While some things worked at this Area Contest, there were other mistakes that I experienced in the same process. Some I was able to detect myself, others were picked up by people that are proficient in the different aspects of judging (vote counting, briefing judges, timing duties, and vote collecting). Without these people monitoring what I was doing, I would not have picked up on the mistakes I made. This is one reason why I love Toastmasters so much. When you make a mistake, there are people there not only to let you know the mistake you made, but also how to improve from it. Feedback is given in a safe atmosphere of friendship.

Thanks to these mistakes, I know what to improve next time.

Thanks to these mistakes, I will go back to the drawing board and find ways to come back stronger for the next Area contest.

Thanks to these mistakes, I will get better!!

This is only one aspect explaining where making mistakes can be a benefit. There are other things I do in life where the same logic can be applied. It can be applied at work, it can be applied in relationships, and it can just be applied period!!

Despite my own awkwardness, I am not the only one that makes mistakes on a constant basis. We all are capable of making mistakes whether big or small!! Without them, we would not experience certain pleasures we have in life today. We would not experience turning on a light bulb, riding in an airplane, watching TV, talking on the phone, or driving our cars to get from point A to point B. Mistakes played a role in creating these things!!

The people that create the things we enjoy today, made many mistakes in their process to satisfy their goals. Did they give up? Not really!! They just went back to the drawing board to improve themselves. Without that ability, we would not benefit from their creations. Is it okay to make mistakes? YES!! How else would you improve? It is immeasurably better to have perfection through imperfection. That is the best way that every person can overcome things.

That is all I have for now. Take care and thank you for your time and attention.

Jesse I-I-I