I help people align with their purpose and organize their energy, time, and tools to live with clarity and impact.
Letting Go of Perfectionism
|
Hi friends, Recently I committed to posting on TikTok at least once a day in order to learn more about the (somewhat foreign for me) entity that is the public side of the internet, and to hopefully one day be able to reap its rumored rewards. It's been quite the learning experience - putting myself out there to basically crickets, acknowledging my contribution to the cringe and trying to balance my ego's desire to be understood. I both want to hide under the covers and to go mega viral. It is strange. All this to say that I have been posting a series of daily self-love prompts this week, and day 3 this week was about Letting Go of Perfection. The prompt was simple enough - "Where in your life are you holding out for perfection? What would it feel like to put yourself out there, imperfections and all?" As I saw with it, I started to see some of the ways I've let perfectionism hold me back. For me, I've used it as an excuse not to move forward. I'll post something and delete it. Record a song and never share it. Write something and let no one read it. Instead of a colorful portfolio, I have a graveyard of abandoned projects. Perfectionism - and fear of being seen - have kept me from improving and learning the next essential step: receiving feedback. But lately, especially with this commitment to posting, I have been moving through it, and feeling proud of myself. In my post, I recalled an article I read about a one month study where a beginner's pottery class was split into to two groups. One group was tasked to make as many pots as possible, the quality did not matter, just the quantity. The other group was tasked to create the perfect pot, just one, and had a month to work on it. After the month was finished, the quality of the pots made by the group graded on quantity far surpassed those tasked to create the perfect pot. Because in the repetition of learning, doing, is where improvement lies. The irony is not lost on me that I recorded that particular video 35 times before I posted it. But here's the takeaway: Love you, Christen |
Christen Hong Coaching
I help people align with their purpose and organize their energy, time, and tools to live with clarity and impact.
Christen Hong Coaching 8/27/25 Hi friends, This week I saw the Jeff Buckley documentary IT'S NEVER OVER. I've been a fan of his music ever since I discovered Grace as a teenager, but I didn't know much about his life. Early on the in the film he says in an interview: "Every human being has music that only they can make." That line has been swirling around in my head since. And it doesn't just apply to music — it applies to any talent, story, or gift that only you can bring into the world. If...
Christen Hong Coaching 8/20/25 Hi friends, This week I’ve been exploring Chiron placements in Human Design. Chiron represents your wound to heal — and the medicine that lives in the wisdom of that wound. When I looked at mine, I sobbed. It was like a spotlight was shone on a wound I’ve been carrying my whole life — the fear of being seen and still not mattering. For me, Chiron shows up in Gate 8 (Contribution) and Gate 20 (The Now). It whispers that if what I share isn’t profound or impactful...
Christen Hong Coaching 8/13/25 Hi friends, This week I’ve felt more scattered than usual, have you? Not that that’s new for me. I often start 20 projects at the same time, which usually means lots of beginnings… without many endings. In the past, I saw this as a flaw. But this week, I had a burst of clarity: those “unfinished” things weren’t wasted. The skills I picked up, the systems I built, the ideas I captured — they’ve all become bricks in a wall I’m still building. Even without...