We’ve said it a million times. “Perfect is the enemy of good.” But you know what… “done is better than perfect.” I realized this AGAIN this weekend.
Every summer, someone organizes a neighborhood-wide garage sale. We’ve been planning on it for weeks, but as most of you know, the past few months have been BUSY – culminating last week in a full week in Utah for Young Living’s annual convention with Heather and 40+ thousand of our closest friends. Needless to say, the garage sale “snuck up on me.”
It’s not like I haven’t been squirreling away stuff in every nook of the guest rooms for the past year, but it’s not like you can just wake up the day of and be ready. You have to price everything, which means you have to evaluate not what you think you should get, but what someone else might be willing to pay. Plus, hauling everything to the garage and attempting some type of visually appealing display. It’s a lot of work.
So I nearly said “eh… we’ll do it next year.” Thankfully, the boy convinced me it was better to just get it all done and focus on all that cash we’d be rolling in Saturday evening. While I wouldn’t exactly say we were rolling; it was REALLY cathartic to get rid of so much stuff. It certainly was not perfect, but it was DONE!
But what about the stuff our neighbors didn't want to take home? (Yes, we have and plan on donating a lot of the remainder.) It wasn’t a great year for clothes, shoes and costume jewelry like in previous years. After 2 days of working my 9-5 all day, then prepping for the sale, I was pooped! I told myself I was going to throw it all in bags and then list it on eBay “later.” I know me. I can be kind of lazy about that stuff. Even with potential money on the line. Plus, eBay is such a pain in the arse! A friend of mine told me about another app called Poshmark (not an affiliate link, but feel free to check out my closet) and it was supposed to be way easier.
Having just seen Mel Robbins the week before at convention, I dug down and 5-4-3-2-1-ed myself into taking pictures of all the clothes (they were already on hangers!) and shoes and purses and started posting that evening. I didn’t love the lighting, but “done is better than perfect.” I told myself that if things didn’t sell, I’d think about better photos later. It WAS an easier app, even if the fees are a little more than eBay. While I was still posting stuff, I sold 3 pairs of shoes and a designer purse. Another pair of shoes sold on Sunday. Plus, I have a bunch of "followers," shares and "likes" on many of my posts. And I haven’t even posted all the pictures of the jewelry!
So fingers crossed, I'll make back a little of my fashion investments before it's all said and done. Above that, I'm feeling very accomplished for just having done it - even though I was tired and didn't really want to.
Now it's your turn. What have you been putting off that you want to be done, but you’re waiting on “something” to make it perfect? Take a lesson from me. Done is better than perfect.
(sorry, Mom (a retired English teacher). I know "done" is for meat and "finished" is for tasks, but I didn't make up the saying. :-D)