The day after the annual Victorious Woman Girlfriend Gala, I usually debrief with myself, then with my spouse. A week or so later, I debrief with my committee.
Focus on Progress, not Perfection
Each year The Girlfriend Gala gets better. I’ll admit that I have to shun the urge to look at what went wrong…and something always does. After eight years, I’ve learned to focus on what went right, on the progress not the perfection of this annual event.
Here’s how the Girlfriend Gala has progressed:
- Year 1: Called some colleagues for a last minute pot luck at my house
- Year 2-3-4: Pot luck at my house with an evite
- Year 5: Piggybacked on someone else’s fundraiser – they had the fund part and I did the party part. No committee. Talked an opera singer into coming from New York to receive a Victorious Woman award (she was a big hit!).
- Year 6: All Victorious Woman with the first Victorious Woman-chosen beneficiary being a homeless shelter. No sponsors, one committee person. Raffle and Silent Auction Items were OK. Bigger than before, included a comedian and The Prosperity Sisters spoke. It was a lot of fun, pretty stressful, a good job.
- Year 7: Two sponsors, one committee person with several “last minute” helpers. We got better at asking for donations so there were more and better raffle and auction items. My comedian colleague performed again; another colleague came from another state to give the keynote. People came back for a 2nd time, some for the 3rd time.
- Year 8: Three sponsors, 4 committee members, fabulous swag bags, raffle and auction items. Last year’s comedian sponsored this year’s comedian. Girlfriends bought whole tables so they could sit together. Local action news van took film and a local newspaper covered the event.
Perfection? Not quite!
Did I think, at any time, that I would stop doing this annual event? YES…every time.
Did early glitches get resolved? YES…and new ones cropped up.
Has every event been exactly how I wanted it? No…there’s been a miss every year
Stepping back and taking in the bigger picture is essential for pursuing big goals
BUT: The Girlfriend Gala has gotten bigger and better every single year. Women start asking me in February and March when it will be. Girlfriend Gala gets more attention, more women are coming back and bringing their friends. Girlfriend Gala make a little more money each year, which means a bigger donation. More women want to help and be part of the event – by bringing their friends, donating jewelry, pottery or crafts, gathering more donations.
So, the Annual Girlfriend Gala is not perfect. But there is progress every year. If I expected perfection, I’d be working hard for months and be disappointed at the end. Maybe I’d even quit.
Attitude is important for motivation and goal success
Progress, however, says: “Nice job this year…better than last year…will be even better next year. BRAVA! Now keep going.“
Just like the early years of Girlfriend Gala were very basic, your early victory stretches will be pretty elementary. Then maybe just OK, then a little bit better, and better.
The most important secret to success to keep in mind…
The more you stretch, the more you build up that victory muscle, and the better you get at making stretches…and you stretch with less stress.
If you are doing something new, accept that it won’t be perfect right off the bat. In fact, it might not ever be perfect. Who cares? It might not be perfect, but it’s probably damn good…and that’s good enough!
Count your successes by the content of your victory stretches, not the perfection of them. It’s the content that counts!!!
