As I’ve been working through some of those perfectionist tendencies, one of the biggest takeaways was how much worrying and talking and figuring out I was doing versus how much action I was actually taking. I’ve always been an advocate of ‘actions speak louder than words’ mentality, and here I was sitting around talking about all the things that I could be doing to reach my goals. I’d been telling Todd for months how I was going to write a budget and really get in control of my finances, or how I was going to take a few hours to myself to finally get this site redesign underway.

This past week, I decided to ditch the perfection, and lean in to the doing. What came out of it in one week was incredible. I felt so productive, and I actually started to realize how getting things done imperfectly feels more perfect than any of that worrying ever did. Everything I’ll do in life will still be a work in progress, but the only way to get to where I want to go is to take those small steps and actually take action. In my free-time this week I was able to write my budget, launch a blog survey (finally), send off the homepage and structure for this site redesign, and then take the entire weekend off to go to a German festival in Toledo. Work and play. Definitely messy, but worth it. I focused less on what I wasn’t accomplishing—which paralyses me in to non-action—and focused on all the little steps that I was taking to propel my goals forward.

Today, my eyes are definitely sparkling.

PS: Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to complete the reader survey. I can’t believe I have gone so long without getting any of your input — it’s been amazing to hear. If you haven’t completed it, you still have time to do so for your chance to win a $50 Etsy gift card. Hope you have a great week!