Nobody’s Perfect: Your Career

What is your not-so-perfect way?

Done something that you're not proud of?
 You're not perfect? In what way? Tell us and share with others.

"I love this topic nobody's perfect. I have met many who think they are . We all make little no no's in our life. Great web site I am enjoying it ." – Melinda

This issue you told us your not-so-perfect ways when it comes to your career.  These are fantastic and I hope you walk away with a sigh of relief that you are not the only human being out there! We need to continue to share and embrace who we are!

1. I sleep in. Every day. Im rarely out of bed before 10 am. I run a celebrity gossip site thats a part of RealNetworks Film.com, and I have east-coast writers who I know are awake and doing a fantastic job working on the site. I know I should be awake, getting my workout in, cleaning the house, or responding to early-morning emails so that Ill have more time in the evening to focus on my job, but I just cant do it. I love sleeping in. I love laying on the bed with my puppy dog and my cats and just taking an extra hour or two to enjoy being lazy. I wish I could be a morning person, but Im not. Ive accepted that. -Sasha

2. In the title of Chapter 5 of my book, Comfort Living: A Back-to-Basics Guide to a More Balanced lifestyle, the "y" in "everyday" is missing… Which means my proofer isn't perfect either!  Also, my kids are 14 and 19 now – and most of our framed photographs are of them from elementary school and before – time to do some updating, but it's not the end of the world either! - Christine

3. We do try to be perfect don't we! I would say my one biggest flaw in my work is that I repeat myself. I have this feeling like I'm not always understood so I explain and explain again and I realize I am repeating myself. It's annoying when I notice I'm doing it so I can only imagine how annoying it is to the other person. -Sharmen

4. It takes me an extra week (sometimes two) to put my laundry away once it's folded._ (Shhh, don't tell too many people…LOL) Hope this helps women know that it's OK to be a little bit behind in an area or two. It's this "being behind" that's keeping me sane. Trust me. -Candi Meridith

5. My one HUGE imperfection: Getting easily distracted by personal emails when I am supposed to be doing my work! -Julie

6. Last week I was late to the kindergarten Mother's Day tea party because I was in a meeting and it ran late. The truth is, I am almost always late. In my business and throughout my professional career I have been a perfectionist (and frankly, it's paid off) but the one thing – despite a natural ability to organize – I can't do is get everywhere I need to be on time. I feel lame saying "sorry I am late" over and over again, but I continue to always be late. I think the 
reason is that I talk too much. Really, I invest a lot in each meeting/conversation, so my time schedule runs amok. Also, I do think that I try to do so much. Try to be in too many places to get more things done. I am really making an effort to schedule breaks between meetings so that I can
 decompress and allow for minor setbacks (or long conversations). -Jules

7. I am a single, working mom and was so proud of myself one morning. My daughter and I stayed with my sister a few miles out of town. It was winter and the next morning we woke up to snow, which didn't seem that bad, so I hurried my daughter to get ready for school, and I needed to attend an important business meeting. She was in 3rd grade at the time. So, feeling like Super Mom, I dropped my daughter off at school, watched her walk into the school, drove away and got to my meeting on time. I could do it all, I thought. 

I went to the meeting and when I came out I had 6 voice mails. Well, the weather was worse than I thought and school was closed that day. I had actually left my daughter alone with the janitor who was calling me to pick up my daughter. She was the only one at school! Not a Super Mom after all. – Paula

8. I work from home and run a business as a book coach: helping doctors, coaches, therapists, other health professionals and entrepreneurs write their nonfiction/how-to books and get published. My not-so-perfect way is that sometimes I put on a video or let my oldest play a video game in order to get some work done if I have a deadline. I don't feel great about it. The other thing is that sometimes I work into the night (midnight or 12:30 is usually the latest), but I'm grouchy the next day. It's often not worth it because of the grouchiness or needing a nap to make up for it. -Lisa

9. I have a lot of newsletters that I subscribe to. To don't, however, read them very often. They collect in a folder I've created for them called "Read Me". Periodically, when that folder gets too big, I hit the "Mark All As Read" button and give myself credit for "handling" it. 

I recently got audited on a series of tax years that had been the bane of my existence. After hiring five different people to do the books and having a computer virus eat the work I had done myself, I finally got them all turned in and thought I was done. Then the IRS audited me. So I had to go back and re-create the books again myself – since the last person I hired just dumped numbers in without a lot of documentation. I was overwhelmed at the thought of having to do all this work AGAIN. I couldn't think. I looked at the boxes of paperwork and my brain shut off. I couldn't even get myself to organize the boxes back into a reasonable order. I needed help. A well-placed plea for help got me through it as several friends came over and helped me get things straight again. After they gave me the push, I managed to dig through things from there. Moral of this story? Ask for help. – Kellie

10. As a reforming control freak (my daughter's description), I now work very hard to make good, solid decisions in a quick manner. This beats over analyzing and stretching the decision out for weeks on end. It is the difference between 'doing' and 'thinking about doing' something. Six months ago I opened my own real estate firm in northeast Iowa. Prior to opening, I literally spent two weeks trying to decide what type of printer/copier/fax machine to buy. A friend advised me that the brands I was considering were all good and had great warranties; that it would be best for me to 'pick one, already'. By doing so, I could be faxing, copying and scanning the next day! Or I could think about it some more – and delay having a tool which was crucial to my business. That perspective has helped me tremendously. I now make many decisions daily. I have posted on my bulletin board a quote I came across that really sums it up: I would rather regret what I did, than regret never having done anything! I truly believe that when I seem to be stuck in a holding pattern, it is best to shift and quickly make decisions that are 'good enough', so that I can take the actions which really move me and my business forward.-Barb