When 30% is 100%

Why I don't have much to give today - and why it's enough.

Hey you,

One of the things I notice when coaching people or chatting to them about their business and creative life, is this tendency to stop or stall or give in when things are getting hard in other areas of life.

This isn’t laziness, far from it. It feels like part of someone being too hard on themselves much more than a calculated letting off the hook. Coming from the assumption that you have to be always giving 100%, doing things perfectly, sticking to the agreed plan and the list.

Thing is, life gets in the way sometimes. There are so many legitimate things that can derail us.

“The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men Gang aft agley” to quote a famous Scottish poet.

You can be ill, children can be ill. Your mental health may be poor. You might have an ongoing, chronic condition to manage. You might have a lot of caring responsibilities or other paid work that sometimes hijacks the time you have for your own work.

But if you do have to take time out, or your focus is weaker, or you feel your creativity has taken a walk, or you’re just not feeling it - does this mean you give up?

Maybe. But you also have the option to keep going, just in whatever way you can.

If you feel you are running on 30%, you are actually still giving 100% because you’re giving what you have.

That imagined 100% where you got not only x & y but z done, is just that. Imagined. You might have fewer 100% days than you imagine too.

Look at this image a moment, look at the top line. Do you think this is honestly what successful, creative people’s lives look like? Because it really isn’t. It looks like the bottom one.

Today is today, you are where you are and if you only have 30% in the tank for what you’re trying to do, but you put that all in, you’ve done it. You’ve given 100%.

If you don’t give the 10%, 5%, 45% you have, on this assumption that this is some sort of failure, not good enough, then you really are in fact giving 0%.

A whole week of 20% is still progress. You can achieve a lot over time even if many of your days have you giving less than you wanted or envisaged.

But if you derail too often, through distraction, fears, procrastination, feelings of what you have to give not being enough, you won’t.

This morning I didn’t want to give anything at all really.

We are pretty sure our elderly dog is dying and we are waiting for some test results so we can see what is the way forward (likely letting him go is going to be the best and kindest option) and in the meantime, we are trying to manage him, and love him the best we can. Making sure he’s comfortable, hydrated, is eating something, has company, isn’t finding anything bothersome. It’s a lot. Three weeks ago he was fine.

The sun is going down. And I am heartbroken.

I could have written the day off - maybe you think I should have - and I could have and that would have been ok too.

But I had two clients in the diary, some ideas in my head and needed a distraction.

So I;

• Coached my clients

• Finished some content admin

• Brainstormed some ideas for my membership

• Wrote this

That probably 30% of what i could have done and would have on another day. But today is today, and today that’s 100% of what I have. Momentum over perfection.

What percent did you have today? What did it look like? Is that still progress?

Sending love,

Sarah x