50. Pep Talk: Waiting for Perfect Conditions?
In this pep talk episode, I am diving into the trap of waiting for perfect conditions and how to move past this thought pattern in both your professional and personal life. If you often find yourself waiting for the stars to align before you get started or to continue to take action on something, you’re in the right place.
The truth is, conditions and circumstances in our lives rarely align perfectly. We’re almost guaranteed to have obstacles come up in our schedule or not be in the mood to do what we know we want or need to do. And if you’re always waiting or wishing for perfect conditions to arrive, you’re going to be waiting a long time.
Listen in this week to learn what the trap of waiting for perfect conditions can look or sound like and how to start recognizing this pattern for yourself. I’m showing you why you don’t have to wait for perfect conditions to get a lot done and how to begin challenging yourself on the conditions you think you need to take action.
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And, for a limited time, if you leave me a rating and review, you can be entered to win a one-on-one coaching session with me! All you have to do is leave your rating and review, and then click here.
What You’ll Discover from this Episode:
What the trap of waiting for perfect conditions can look or sound like.
The consequences of waiting for perfect conditions to take action.
Why you must define the conditions you require for taking action.
Listen to the Full Episode:
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Full Episode Transcript:
Hey designer, you’re listening to episode 50. Today is a pep talk day where we’re going to talk about the trap of waiting for perfect conditions and how to move past this both in your personal and professional life.
Welcome to The Interior Design Business CEO, the only show for designers who are ready to confidently run and grow their businesses without the stress and anxiety. If you’re ready to develop a bigger vision for your interior design business, free up your time, and streamline your days for productivity and profit, you’re in the right place. I’m Desi Creswell, an award-winning interior designer and certified life and business coach. I help interior designers just like you stop feeling overwhelmed so they can build profitable businesses they love to run. Are you ready to confidently lead your business, clients, and projects? Let’s go.
Hello, designer. Welcome back to the podcast. It’s episode 50. I cannot believe it’s episode 50. Can you? Have you been with me since the beginning? If so, thank you for being an early adopter. If you’re new to the podcast, welcome, welcome.
It’s not quite the one year anniversary of the podcast because I released several episodes at the start, per my podcast team’s recommendation. But still 50 episodes, it feels like a big deal and I want to celebrate with you all because you are what makes this so fun. When I outline and record these episodes, I picture you in the car or on a walk or making dinner, however you listen, and it just brings me so much joy to think about connecting with you in this way.
Today, we’re going to talk about waiting for perfect conditions. And it feels like such a perfect time to talk about this topic. I had set aside the entire day, clear of calls and no meetings, just planning to dive in. I was going to go to barre class in the morning and then it was going to be time to get to work. And, well, as life would have it, my son started feeling sick this morning and quickly went downhill.
It was about 30 minutes before the bus was supposed to come. And I thought, I don’t know, is he just kind of not in the mood to go to school? What’s going on? And pretty soon he was just sort of flopped on the sofa. I offered to go outside and play football with him, but he turned me down, which if you know this kid he’s got a constant motor that is always going and always up for action. So that’s when I kind of realized, well, yeah, something’s up.
So, now I’m at home in our living room waiting for when he might throw up. Hopefully, that’s not too much information for you all. But you could say there goes my plans. I could easily have that thought. I had this amazingly clear day ahead of me, I was excited to have that space. And I could be telling myself right now that I’ve got to drop everything, that nothing’s going to happen, the day is blown. Except I don’t.
I don’t have to tell myself that. And I don’t have to drop everything. I don’t need to wait for another day of what I could consider perfect conditions, what we’re going to talk about, for getting a lot done. So here’s what I’m doing, I’m looking at my plan for the day, seeing what’s most important and building those into my day along with caring for my son.
There’s certainly things that are just not going to happen today, but the truth is rarely do conditions and circumstances align in a perfect setup and you’ve got the perfect schedule and the perfect mood to do what you want or need to do. So I’m making it work. And that’s what I want to talk about today. It’s why I’m outlining this podcast right now.
I’m not waiting for or wishing for perfect conditions to get started on something or to continue taking action on something you’ve already started. If you’re always waiting for perfect conditions to get started or do what you say you want to do, you’re going to be waiting for a very long time. And that’s why it is so important that we talk about that today.
Before we dive in, a quick reminder that my giveaway for a private coaching session with yours truly is still on. All you have to do is leave me a rating and review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. And then submit a quick form that just lets me know that you submitted the review and also shares how to contact you if you’re chosen as a winner.
There is a link in the show notes for the form. It’s super quick, super simple and you could win a private session with me to work on anything you want.
Okay, so let’s get back to this trap of waiting for perfect conditions. I’m going to give you some examples of what this might look like or sound like, so you can start to recognize this pattern for yourself and start to shift it. The number one area I see this pattern of waiting for perfect conditions is in the getting started phase. It’s kind of linked to procrastination and latering, which I’ve talked about in previous episodes. I’ll make sure to link those.
It’s essentially when you’re waiting until the stars align to get started. This could sound like I’ll work on this when I know no one, insert clients, contractors, team members, family members, will bug me. Which by the way, this is probably leading to a lot of nighttime and evening work that could be solved for with boundaries, clear communication guidelines and other topics I cover in Out Of Overwhelm, which is going to be opening up for enrollment soon.
But if you’re thinking, I need to wait till no one’s going to bug me, usually the only time that’s going to happen is if you’re waiting until the late hours of the night or maybe the very early hours of the morning. And even then somebody could still bug you, it’s just you have slightly different circumstances and a different mindset. But we don’t want to have that be the conditions we place on when we get our work done because I would suspect that you do not want to be working at 10pm.
All right, it might also sound like I’ll get started when I have more time. This could be more time in general, a bigger block of time, when the kids are in school, when the kids are out of school, when it’s not so busy. I mean, the list goes on and on.
It might also sound like I’ll do this when I have this training or that information. And let me tell you, there is never a point where you will know everything you need to know, which means if you’re waiting until you have the perfect amount of information or training, it’s going to be a perpetual push off into the future of you taking action.
Another one I hear a lot is I’ll hire that employee, whether that’s a contractor or a full-time team member, when I have the right process, the right pipeline, the right skills as a leader, and again and again and again. And yes, there are times when you do want to get some things in order before you hire that employee or you do need some basic skills. But typically, you’re pushing that off farther into the future and putting really high expectations on those conditions that are preventing you from moving in that direction.
The concept of waiting for perfect conditions also shows up in your personal life, which makes sense because wherever you go, there you are, your brain goes with you. And that’s why I always coach on both the mindset of taking action in addition to the actual actions you take, because your thought patterns around waiting for perfect conditions, if they’re present in your business, I’m sure that they’re present in your personal life as well and we have to address the thought pattern in order to fully adjust the behavior.
The inspiration for this episode actually came from a personal example I had shared on Instagram of waiting for perfect conditions. The photo I posted of me was reading on our boat, reading a book. And after I posted it I thought, “I need to clarify this photo.”
From the angle that I posted, which really I wanted to show off the book, I like to share what I’m reading on Instagram sometimes. But you could have easily assumed that I was out floating in the middle of the lake by myself, peacefully reading for hours with a nice cold beverage and snacks.
No, that is not what was happening. I had both of my kids, my husband and my mom on the boat. They were all doing cannonballs, well not my mom. She’s pretty fun, but she’s not doing the cannonballs and neither am I. And would I have liked to have had a little peace and quiet? Of course, but that’s not my weekend right now.
I also know I’ve been wanting to read more. And I realized I was waiting for perfect conditions in order to be able to read more. In this case, the imaginary perfect scenario that I had crafted in my head was that I would have a quiet house, at least an hour to read, a comfortable chair procured from my office and I wouldn’t have anything else that ever felt more pressing.
Now I’m kind of laughing, sharing that example. But as you can see, had I not recognized that I had this scenario setup, had I not been aware of those perfect conditions that I was placing on the habit of reading, there would be no reading. I’m definitely not going to have, especially on a summer weekend, tons of time where it’s totally quiet and I’m by myself, right?
So I decided I would just read where and when I could. And that day that I posted a picture of me reading out on the boat, I maybe had about 10 minutes of reading, among lots of other things going on. I read a bit, wasn’t entirely focused, and then got out into the lake to play with my kids. And that felt amazing. And I’m reading a lot more and it’s because I’m not waiting for perfect conditions.
The same is possible in your business. Making progress on those systems, your marketing initiatives, organizing your space or learning a new skill set, you can absolutely create time for these activities if you’re willing to reconsider what conditions you’re requiring, but are actually getting in the way of getting started or taking action.
Like I said before, it’s possible that you do need certain conditions to get started. But most often, they’re more minimal than you realize and you’re more capable than you realize. If there’s a condition to be met, define it. Please define it, so you know when you’re good to go. And challenge yourself on what these conditions actually are and if they’re actually necessary or are they roadblocks you’re putting in front of yourself?
This week, I really want you to pay attention to where you’re waiting for perfect conditions, personally or professionally, and consider what would happen if you let go of perfection and went with good enough.
That’s what I have for you today. In the next episode, I’m going to be talking about one year commitments and your business, including how I approached the start of this podcast. I can’t wait to dive into that topic and share how it applies to your interior design business and goals. Until then, I’m wishing you a beautiful week. I am off to read some Harry Potter to my son and I’ll talk to you in the next episode.
Have you ever wished I could be your coach? If so, keep listening. For a limited time when you leave a rating and review for the podcast you’ll be entered to win a one on one coaching session with me. I can answer your questions and coach you on your unique challenges.
All you have to do is scroll down to the bottom of your podcast app, tap the five stars and leave a review. Tell me your favorite episode, why you look forward to listening every week, or why another designer needs to check out the show. It won’t take long, and as a thank you for leaving a rating and review you’ll have the opportunity to win a private coaching session with me.
Just click the link in the show notes to submit your review so I know how to get in touch. I can’t wait to select a winner and it might be you. I’ll talk to you next week.
Thanks for joining me for this week’s episode of The Interior Design Business CEO. If you want more tips, tools and strategies visit www.desicreswell.com. And if you’re ready to take what you’ve learned on the podcast to the next level, I would love for you to check out my signature group coaching program, Out of Overwhelm.
Welcome to The Interior Design Business CEO, the only show for designers who are ready to confidently run and grow their businesses without the stress and anxiety. If you’re ready to develop a bigger vision for your interior design business, free up your time, and streamline your days for productivity and profit, you’re in the right place. I’m Desi Creswell, an award-winning interior designer and certified life and business coach. I help interior designers just like you stop feeling overwhelmed so they can build profitable businesses they love to run. Are you ready to confidently lead your business, clients, and projects? Let’s go.
Hello, designer. Welcome back to the podcast. It’s episode 50. I cannot believe it’s episode 50. Can you? Have you been with me since the beginning? If so, thank you for being an early adopter. If you’re new to the podcast, welcome, welcome.
It’s not quite the one year anniversary of the podcast because I released several episodes at the start, per my podcast team’s recommendation. But still 50 episodes, it feels like a big deal and I want to celebrate with you all because you are what makes this so fun. When I outline and record these episodes, I picture you in the car or on a walk or making dinner, however you listen, and it just brings me so much joy to think about connecting with you in this way.
Today, we’re going to talk about waiting for perfect conditions. And it feels like such a perfect time to talk about this topic. I had set aside the entire day, clear of calls and no meetings, just planning to dive in. I was going to go to barre class in the morning and then it was going to be time to get to work. And, well, as life would have it, my son started feeling sick this morning and quickly went downhill.
It was about 30 minutes before the bus was supposed to come. And I thought, I don’t know, is he just kind of not in the mood to go to school? What’s going on? And pretty soon he was just sort of flopped on the sofa. I offered to go outside and play football with him, but he turned me down, which if you know this kid he’s got a constant motor that is always going and always up for action. So that’s when I kind of realized, well, yeah, something’s up.
So, now I’m at home in our living room waiting for when he might throw up. Hopefully, that’s not too much information for you all. But you could say there goes my plans. I could easily have that thought. I had this amazingly clear day ahead of me, I was excited to have that space. And I could be telling myself right now that I’ve got to drop everything, that nothing’s going to happen, the day is blown. Except I don’t.
I don’t have to tell myself that. And I don’t have to drop everything. I don’t need to wait for another day of what I could consider perfect conditions, what we’re going to talk about, for getting a lot done. So here’s what I’m doing, I’m looking at my plan for the day, seeing what’s most important and building those into my day along with caring for my son.
There’s certainly things that are just not going to happen today, but the truth is rarely do conditions and circumstances align in a perfect setup and you’ve got the perfect schedule and the perfect mood to do what you want or need to do. So I’m making it work. And that’s what I want to talk about today. It’s why I’m outlining this podcast right now.
I’m not waiting for or wishing for perfect conditions to get started on something or to continue taking action on something you’ve already started. If you’re always waiting for perfect conditions to get started or do what you say you want to do, you’re going to be waiting for a very long time. And that’s why it is so important that we talk about that today.
Before we dive in, a quick reminder that my giveaway for a private coaching session with yours truly is still on. All you have to do is leave me a rating and review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. And then submit a quick form that just lets me know that you submitted the review and also shares how to contact you if you’re chosen as a winner.
There is a link in the show notes for the form. It’s super quick, super simple and you could win a private session with me to work on anything you want.
Okay, so let’s get back to this trap of waiting for perfect conditions. I’m going to give you some examples of what this might look like or sound like, so you can start to recognize this pattern for yourself and start to shift it. The number one area I see this pattern of waiting for perfect conditions is in the getting started phase. It’s kind of linked to procrastination and latering, which I’ve talked about in previous episodes. I’ll make sure to link those.
It’s essentially when you’re waiting until the stars align to get started. This could sound like I’ll work on this when I know no one, insert clients, contractors, team members, family members, will bug me. Which by the way, this is probably leading to a lot of nighttime and evening work that could be solved for with boundaries, clear communication guidelines and other topics I cover in Out Of Overwhelm, which is going to be opening up for enrollment soon.
But if you’re thinking, I need to wait till no one’s going to bug me, usually the only time that’s going to happen is if you’re waiting until the late hours of the night or maybe the very early hours of the morning. And even then somebody could still bug you, it’s just you have slightly different circumstances and a different mindset. But we don’t want to have that be the conditions we place on when we get our work done because I would suspect that you do not want to be working at 10pm.
All right, it might also sound like I’ll get started when I have more time. This could be more time in general, a bigger block of time, when the kids are in school, when the kids are out of school, when it’s not so busy. I mean, the list goes on and on.
It might also sound like I’ll do this when I have this training or that information. And let me tell you, there is never a point where you will know everything you need to know, which means if you’re waiting until you have the perfect amount of information or training, it’s going to be a perpetual push off into the future of you taking action.
Another one I hear a lot is I’ll hire that employee, whether that’s a contractor or a full-time team member, when I have the right process, the right pipeline, the right skills as a leader, and again and again and again. And yes, there are times when you do want to get some things in order before you hire that employee or you do need some basic skills. But typically, you’re pushing that off farther into the future and putting really high expectations on those conditions that are preventing you from moving in that direction.
The concept of waiting for perfect conditions also shows up in your personal life, which makes sense because wherever you go, there you are, your brain goes with you. And that’s why I always coach on both the mindset of taking action in addition to the actual actions you take, because your thought patterns around waiting for perfect conditions, if they’re present in your business, I’m sure that they’re present in your personal life as well and we have to address the thought pattern in order to fully adjust the behavior.
The inspiration for this episode actually came from a personal example I had shared on Instagram of waiting for perfect conditions. The photo I posted of me was reading on our boat, reading a book. And after I posted it I thought, “I need to clarify this photo.”
From the angle that I posted, which really I wanted to show off the book, I like to share what I’m reading on Instagram sometimes. But you could have easily assumed that I was out floating in the middle of the lake by myself, peacefully reading for hours with a nice cold beverage and snacks.
No, that is not what was happening. I had both of my kids, my husband and my mom on the boat. They were all doing cannonballs, well not my mom. She’s pretty fun, but she’s not doing the cannonballs and neither am I. And would I have liked to have had a little peace and quiet? Of course, but that’s not my weekend right now.
I also know I’ve been wanting to read more. And I realized I was waiting for perfect conditions in order to be able to read more. In this case, the imaginary perfect scenario that I had crafted in my head was that I would have a quiet house, at least an hour to read, a comfortable chair procured from my office and I wouldn’t have anything else that ever felt more pressing.
Now I’m kind of laughing, sharing that example. But as you can see, had I not recognized that I had this scenario setup, had I not been aware of those perfect conditions that I was placing on the habit of reading, there would be no reading. I’m definitely not going to have, especially on a summer weekend, tons of time where it’s totally quiet and I’m by myself, right?
So I decided I would just read where and when I could. And that day that I posted a picture of me reading out on the boat, I maybe had about 10 minutes of reading, among lots of other things going on. I read a bit, wasn’t entirely focused, and then got out into the lake to play with my kids. And that felt amazing. And I’m reading a lot more and it’s because I’m not waiting for perfect conditions.
The same is possible in your business. Making progress on those systems, your marketing initiatives, organizing your space or learning a new skill set, you can absolutely create time for these activities if you’re willing to reconsider what conditions you’re requiring, but are actually getting in the way of getting started or taking action.
Like I said before, it’s possible that you do need certain conditions to get started. But most often, they’re more minimal than you realize and you’re more capable than you realize. If there’s a condition to be met, define it. Please define it, so you know when you’re good to go. And challenge yourself on what these conditions actually are and if they’re actually necessary or are they roadblocks you’re putting in front of yourself?
This week, I really want you to pay attention to where you’re waiting for perfect conditions, personally or professionally, and consider what would happen if you let go of perfection and went with good enough.
That’s what I have for you today. In the next episode, I’m going to be talking about one year commitments and your business, including how I approached the start of this podcast. I can’t wait to dive into that topic and share how it applies to your interior design business and goals. Until then, I’m wishing you a beautiful week. I am off to read some Harry Potter to my son and I’ll talk to you in the next episode.
Have you ever wished I could be your coach? If so, keep listening. For a limited time when you leave a rating and review for the podcast you’ll be entered to win a one on one coaching session with me. I can answer your questions and coach you on your unique challenges.
All you have to do is scroll down to the bottom of your podcast app, tap the five stars and leave a review. Tell me your favorite episode, why you look forward to listening every week, or why another designer needs to check out the show. It won’t take long, and as a thank you for leaving a rating and review you’ll have the opportunity to win a private coaching session with me.
Just click the link in the show notes to submit your review so I know how to get in touch. I can’t wait to select a winner and it might be you. I’ll talk to you next week.
Thanks for joining me for this week’s episode of The Interior Design Business CEO. If you want more tips, tools and strategies visit www.desicreswell.com. And if you’re ready to take what you’ve learned on the podcast to the next level, I would love for you to check out my signature group coaching program, Out of Overwhelm.
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