Aug 9, 2016

Three Ways to Let Go Of Perfect

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Maybe your well-laid summer plans went sour, or you didn’t started on any of your goals or that summer bucket list you made with the kids. Guess what?

That’s okay! Welcome back to Part 2 of our Fruitful Friendship series! Be sure to check out five easy ways to grow meaningful friendships.

Your summer doesn’t need to be perfect to be meaningful, and you don’t need to be perfect either. I often feel like everyone has it all together but me. But, it’s not true. Don’t let comparison feed you the lie that you aren’t exactly where you’re supposed to be.

Here are Three Easy Ways to Let Go of Perfect! Much more to come in the next three posts too. Let’s do this!

1. Embrace the mess.

Your summer (or any season of your life for that matter!) doesn’t have to be perfect to be meaningful. Throw your expectations out the window—and keep that window open. Rather than trying to stick to the perfect plan and feeling guilty when it doesn’t go exactly as you expected, make this a grace-filled season and embrace the unexpected. Fill in the blank:

I’m letting go of ______ in order to have a fruitful season!

What’s more important: a perfect life, or a fruitful life?

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2. Define what a “fruitful” season means to you.

Whether it’s full of family time, date nights with your significant other, friend adventures, starting a new project or hobby, or embracing simplicity, write out what it means to you. Chances are, your fruitful season vision does not include mass amounts of time spent stressing over social media numbers, or striving to get ahead at the expense of what matters most. When you take the time to visualize where you want to go, it helps simplify your life. You learn how to prioritize your daily decisions based on that vision. A favorite verse: ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish…’ (Proverbs 29:18).

BONUS STEP: Define one focal word for the season that helps you focus on progress, not perfection. (I’d love to hear your word in the comments!)

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Download the FREE Fruitful Summer Statement (like a mission statement for your intentional summer!) and place it somewhere where you will see it often–your refrigerator, on your desk, or on your bathroom mirror. This will help you prioritize what matters and remind you of where you’re going!

3. Make room.

My arms and calendar are packed from sun up to sun down, but I also know I can waste a lot of time on distractions throughout the day. So, say yes to what matters and a firm no to all the rest. The simple act of writing out the things you are saying yes to and what you are saying no to can help give you your time back. Say no to the distractions, and yes to things that will help you live out your fruitful season—and life! It starts with writing them out, seeing the time-suckers for what they are. This helps me see let go of perfect by intentionally choosing life-giving things to fill my time with!

What’s on your yes and no lists this season?

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Photo by Olivia Wolf of Nancy Ray Photography

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Get your Fruitful Friendships Workbook for much more! This 52-page interactive guide is full of pages with our best tips on cultivating friendships, worksheets to help you make what matters happen, and wisdom from an amazing group of contributors. See inside the workbook and get yours here!

Stay tuned for the rest of my Fruitful Friendship tips coming in the next post! Up next, how to embrace awkward

 

2 Comments

  1. Elyse Marie on May 16, 2017 at 12:38 pm

    Focusing on the word and action of ‘grace’ this summer will help re-focus my mind and heart on striving to do things well and with excellence, but always with a healthy dose of grace.

  2. Tammy Schroeder on May 16, 2017 at 5:35 pm

    Love this. My word is enjoy

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