This was supposed to be my obligatory New Year’s post (Yes, I know it’s way late). I was going to list a few things that I learned in 2020 that I want to carry into 2021, but Yoda kind of just took over. I still think this is pretty good advice for 2021 though, especially for myself.
I’m an all or nothing kind of person. I look at everything I want to improve in my life, and I want to make all of those changes right now. If I mess up in one area or for one day, then it’s all over. I give up and usually end up depressed about how my life isn’t what I want it to be. My mom always used to tell me that I can’t say “I’ll try,” because that’s setting me up for failure. I need to have the attitude that says “I will” instead.
So, naturally, Yoda’s famous line stuck with me: “Do or do not, there is no try.” At first, I would jokingly quote this at people when they used the word “try.” Then, I couldn’t hear that word and not think of Yoda. And then, I couldn’t even say it myself.
I kind of began to obsess over it. I couldn’t say I would try, so anything I attempted had better go perfectly or it wasn’t even worth the effort to attempt. (Side note: I told my boyfriend how much I obsess over Yoda’s quote and he told me that “only the Sith deal in absolutes.” Thank God for boyfriends who speak your language.)
But last year I encountered a new phrase: “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly.” I honestly think my brain just stopped for a minute, because this made no sense to me. My first thought was that this is the kind of excuse lazy people use, because in my mind doing your best should always mean doing it well. It took me a while to realize that this is about progress.
My unrealistic goal has always been perfection, which means I will always fail. But progress means finding a starting point and doing your best from there. It means not giving up when you mess up. Actually, progress means anticipating that you will mess up and being OK with that.
The post where I found this phrase (I think it might have originally been from Reddit) put it this way: “Doing ten minutes of yoga is better than ten minutes of sitting when 30 minutes of cardio sounds impossible. Changing my clothes is good when a whole shower is impossible… Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly…because doing it poorly is better than not doing it.”
As I’ve begun to put this into practice, I’ve seen a change in my life. If I have one bad day, it doesn’t ruin my whole week because I’m learning to pick myself back up and move on when I mess up. Now, I’m always striving to do better, but consistently taking steps forward instead of giving up after one mistake has proven to be much more successful. I can look back at my life and see the improvements I’m making overall, which encourages me to keep doing my best in the future.
So, as we head into a new year with new resolutions and goals that we’re hoping to achieve, don’t take Yoda’s advice. Don’t give up because it isn’t going well or you missed an entire week of that diet or exercise. Because if you start somewhere and stay persistent, then you can begin taking small steps toward your goal.