Done beats perfect...

We recently moved and started attending a new church near our new house. I am highly critical of churches in general and this was no exception. To be candid, I was worried the pastor’s style of preaching wasn’t for me and the church seemed just a little too excited. I was quickly rocked onto my heels as the power of the message superseded any preconceived notions I had about this church 4 weeks in a row. Today the the pastor not only brought the heat with another inspiring message, but he caused an epiphany that I thought I already knew.

I’ve heard the mantra “done beats perfect” countless times. It falls under the “duh” category where I simply write it off as “I know what that means… who doesn’t?” The sneaky thing about wisdom, is that it only creeps up on us when we need it and or when we are adequately prepared for it… rarely when we want it and never when think we already have it.

Our new church has started to grow on me, and I am getting settled into its rhythm. Today I was admiring the systems and processes. I was noticing the little details put into the experience and how professional and consistent the staff and volunteers are. I then thought about the leadership necessary for all of this to work as seamlessly as it does which pointed me back to the lead pastor. I started to really scrutinize him. I seemed to catch every time he would stumble over a statement or lose his place. As I was taking this all in, it hit me… (Well it hit me that I was being an armchair-quarterback and critiquing a man actually in the arena while I was on the sidelines, but it was with good intention, LOL.) I realized that he’s just a man. He has a wife and kids, just like me. He’s about the same age as me. I’m assuming he puts his pants on one leg at a time, just like me.

This brought me back to “done beats perfect”. What if he didn’t preach because his message wasn’t perfect? Or because he was nervous he might stumble over a statement or lose his place while preaching? What if he was self-conscious for any reason at all? He preaches to the high-hundreds if not thousands of people every week. His impact is HUGE. I can’t imagine if he let limiting beliefs take him over.

He in fact does stumble occasionally, and other than when I’m over-analyzing his preaching in my head, I doubt anyone else even notices because the power of his message is always so captivating. The fact that he is up on that stage taking action proves that “done beats perfect”.

I have struggled most of my life with trying to make things perfect to the point of paralysis. I over-analyze and scrutinize so much that I don’t take action. I don’t achieve much of what I set out to because I let fear and doubt and limiting beliefs consume me. Today I finally grasped the concept of “done beats perfect”. I digested it. It became more than knowledge. It became wisdom.

A flawed, albeit complete, execution beats not taking action. How can we impact anyone if we don’t take action? The fear of being imperfect can leave our impact on others at zero. The world needs our perfectly, imperfect story. Each and every one of us has influence and therefore each and every one of us is a leader. We can lift each other up and help one another through our shared experiences. I am grateful for men like my pastor who don’t let fear of imperfection hold them back. I am grateful for men like my pastor who help me see room for improvement in myself and inspire me to be a better man.

What are you letting hold you back?