How to Quash Perfectionism & What a Little Lemon Tree Taught Me

During last year’s lockdown…

I planted a little lemon tree sapling in our garden with my children.

I’ve always wanted a lemon tree and it has made me feel really happy watching it grow over the last 18 months.

It’s been somewhat cathartic.

It’s now Spring and Elise, Carter and my little tree has just started to bloom…

 

We’ve got 12 flowers in total so far…

And, although I know that big established lemon trees can flower and fruit all year round…

I wasn’t sure what would happen with a little-dinky-baby-tree like ours…

So of course, I turned to green-fingered Google for advice.

It said,

“New trees might not bear fruit for the first few years and when they do, the first lemons might never mature and simply fall off. This is the tree learning how to fruit, but don’t worry: your yield the following season may be more successful.”

Despite being a bit sad that I may have to put making homemade lemonade (and having homegrown sliced lemon in my G&Ts) on hold for a few more months…

It has compelled me to nurture this little plant even more.

 

The little tree is like a child…

Practicing how to grow…

Practicing it’s fruit-making art…

Learning what works (and what doesn’t)…

And getting stronger every time.

So…

I won’t be sad if the first flowers never fruit…

Or if any lemons that we do get, prematurely fall off their stems…

Because…

I’ll know that our little tree is getting stronger every day…

And, crucially…

It was never striving to be perfect from the get-go anyway.

 

We women can fall into that trap of trying to be perfect from the get go, can’t we?

Of being brutally hard on ourselves…

Of wanting to have all the answers fully prepared before we are ready…

But the problem with chasing perfectionism is that perfectionism …

Is a brittle strategy…

And the one who will break, is only ever going to be you.

When you develop a growth mindset you will become more flexible and objective in how you look at yourself (and treat yourself too).

This is one of the modules that we teach in our coaching program The Career Accelerator Game Plan…

Because striving for new exciting opportunities in your career…

Will only happen successfully if you build total confidence in the value you are already adding right now…

Rather than waiting for the perfect moment – that will never come.

 

 

I’d love to help you get new outcomes in your career. If you’re ready and curious to learn more about yourself, schedule a 15 minute Career Strategy Call with me. Share your career challenges and I guarantee you’ll get some fresh thinking and actions straight away. Let’s get you back on track. Yup! It is that simple!