Finding Inspiration in Imperfections

December 7, 2021, by Cheryl Viola, Executive Director/CEO, MBA

Life is busy and messy, unexpected things happen. Every person I have met has had to deal with difficult circumstances. Today in the world there is so much anger. We are surrounded by people who have different beliefs and opinions. We can allow ourselves to become affected by all the negativity in the world. The one consistent thing we have in life is that we control our reactions and responses. On the days when you feel like your life is out of control, you choose if you will allow the circumstance to negatively affect you.

On social media platforms, I choose to follow leadership and inspirational pages. I recently saw a post that said: “You don’t need to be perfect to inspire others. Let people get inspired by how you deal with your imperfection.”

I am keenly aware of my imperfections and no matter what others say, I am the captain of my ship. I have the power to allow what others say and do affect me negatively, and push me down or I can choose to rise above. Does this mean that rising above is easy? Of course, it is not easy. It is terrifying at times. My parents divorced when I was a young teenager. I was told I should expect nothing more than entry-level positions. I met a lawyer who told me that he skipped school so much as a high school student that his teachers told him he would not amount to anything. To his credit, he took that negative feedback as a challenge and set out to prove them wrong. Do not let others tell you what you can’t do. Do not permit yourself to hold yourself back. 

We give others too much power over how they can negatively influence our lives. Like my lawyer friend, we choose to allow negativity to beat us down or we can find ways to rise above. You have the power to determine how you react to experiences and you get to choose what motivates you and discover your interests. In a Forbes.com article, it states “Inspiration can mean change”. Inspiration allows us to see things from a different perspective.

There are many ways to seek inspiration:

  • Create a gratitude list
  • Recognizing and writing a gratitude journal retrains your brain to be inspired daily. When I have done this exercise, it helped me refocus and recognize that the stress and problems I face are not as big as they seem.
  • Create high-level habits
    • High-level habits mean starting your day early, exercise is a great start. Do not pick up social media first thing in the morning. Mediation, finding ways to serve others, and reading good books is great way to create high-level habits.
  • Be OK with pivoting
    • Each day brings new priorities and challenges arise. You need to be flexible enough to pivot your focus and find joy in each moment.
  • Play
    • When life’s responsibilities continue to add up you need to permit yourself to play. Playing could mean coloring, games, spending time in creative play with children. When we allow ourselves to play it gives our resets our minds, recharges our batteries, allows us insight and inspiration. 

A credible and accountable person/leader acknowledges imperfections and errors. They apologize for mistakes.  When we demonstrate accountability we take ownership of mistakes, missteps, and problems, leaders then quickly seek ways to move beyond. The Solution is the resolution. Inspirations come as we seek solutions.