Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter

Failure is the Key to Success

A few years ago, a friend introduced me to the work of James Clear, who writes about habit and often sends out inspiring quotes. This week, his quote, “The sooner you make a choice, the sooner you can make an adjustment,” made me think about something I always tell my kids. It’s about how studies show that successful entrepreneurs fail at the same rate as other people, but they are more prolific. So, when they fail, they don’t stop to lick their wounds, they just take it in stride and go onto the next thing. To Clear’s point, you might make a poor choice, but then don’t freeze, don’t wallow: adjust.

It probably won’t shock many of you to know that a lot of my clients become frozen by perfectionism. They want their files to look great. They think their closets and kitchens should be camera ready. They want to make sure they get the “right” storage from The Container Store, or know the “proper” way to file their papers.

It also may not surprise some of you there is no right or proper way. There are “best practices,” but any pro will tell you that even best practices aren’t perfect for everyone. My wish for my clients is that they will worry less about doing it right or making it perfect, and just do it (whatever it is). Along the way, I promise, they’ll figure out what does and doesn’t work for them.

Don’t make perfection the enemy of the good. A client will tell me she’s been wanting to renovate her closet for 15 years, but she can’t decide if she should have full-length hanging, or two bars. Fifteen years? Don’t sit around waiting for the stars to align. Toss a coin. Measure how many short and long items you have. Ask if both bars can be adjustable. It will never be perfect, so take an action, see where the chips fall, and then adjust and move onto the next project.

Maybe you decided to file your files alphabetically. Good choice: Lacking any other obvious system, it’s usually a logical way to start.  However, you might find after a few months that the files you reach for most often are all from the latter half of the alphabet, and at the back or the bottom drawer. No problem! You adjust: The files are already organized, now you simply need to rearrange, maybe based on category, or whatever order that gets the ones you need most in the top drawer.

Even when things are perfect, they aren’t perfect forever. Everything changes: wardrobes, files, eating habits. Don’t be afraid you’re going to get it wrong. Today’s wrong might be tomorrow’s right, and either way, it’ll be yesterday’s news.