Perfection in Imperfection
One of my biggest flaws is my lack of self-esteem. I tend to undermine myself and overthink about every obstacle that I face in life. A few days ago, I was complaining about my flaws to my best friend, I want to be perfect in everything I do. To all that, my friend said, “your imperfections make you perfect and your ability to face the challenges and consequences makes you stronger.” This statement was meant to pacify me but to be honest, it changed my life and made me reevaluate my self-worth.
It is a known fact, that criticism is one of the biggest motivating factors towards improvement. However, criticism in excess can have a lot of negative connotations. It is very important for parents and teachers to understand and analyze their criticizing methods, to ensure the results are positive rather than negative on the child’s well-being. Lisa Nicolas, 6-time best-selling author and world-renowned motivational speaker once confessed that growing up, one of her teachers discouraged her and told her that public speaking and writing are not her strengths. Therefore, for the longest time, she was unsure of her abilities and stayed away from her true dreams. Today, she is one of the best motivational speakers and has inspired many!
Unfortunately, it is easy for us to pay more attention to the criticism and to the negative feedback rather than the positive ones. Moreover, social media has instigated some harmful effects on our mental state. These days it is very common to see young individuals to doubt their true strengths and they seem to have a higher sense of failure. The harder thing is to bifurcate between negative and positive feedbacks and surrounding ourselves with those who truly want the best for us and wants to see us succeed. Such, support system comes organically with the right time and the right state of mind.
The good news is, the world is still filled with genuine people who truly care for others and motivates people around them to succeed. They are our parents, teachers, mentors, true friends and partners. These precious gems are always there for us and will always support us in achieving our dreams. I am truly blessed to be around some wonderful people around me who are my mentors, my well-wishers and are constantly guiding me. These gems are my biggest cheerleaders and my biggest critics, they always help me understand how to harness my imperfections to achieve perfection. Recently, I almost gave up on one of my many dreams, till one of my favorite mentors/professors, Protip Biswas ruined his perfect weekend to remind me of my strengths and helped me gain focus. He is one of the most successful and the busiest men I know, yet he makes time to mentor me, to make sure I am doing well and to help me be a better version of myself. I am truly grateful to be surrounded with amazing people like him in my life. Mentors and well-wishers like Protip are hard to find, but if you find one let them help you, guide you and inspire you!
