Hello, my name is Laney Welch and I have a serious confession.

I am not perfect.

I know this may come as a huge shock to some of you who know me since I so obviously have it all together but alas, I am not the gorgeous, 4.0 getting, athlete you thought you knew. I’d like to be perfect. Lord knows I try but it’s just not gonna happen. Even as I’m writing this I’m going over it in my head making sure every punctuation mark is in the correct spot and that my phrasing is well structured. I find myself limiting my creativity and not writing all my ideas in case it doesn’t quite fit this construct of “perfect writing” that I’ve formulated for myself.

I think the heart of this ridiculous need for perfection is a deep fear of failure. Because the need to be perfect really is just the need to not fail. And to make matters worse, sometimes that fear of failing is often resolved by not trying new things. Because it’s better to not try than to try and fail right?

Ask any of my friends, this is a philosophy I have lived by for years. I have legitimately taken zeros on assignments rather than get poor grades, missed social functions rather than go and feel awkward, and avoided sports like the plague because I am the least coordinated person on planet Earth. But there’s no growth in never trying new things. There’s no growth in never failing. If everyone was automatically good at everything then there would be no point in trying or working or even doing anything. If everyone was already good at their passions then we would all be stagnant and frankly, bored.

So my challenge to you is to go fail something. Try something and fail miserably. Realize that you survived and get back up and do it again. Perfectionism isn’t the goal, growth is. And the only way to grow is fail. Give yourself permission to see past your failure and see the growth and strength that comes with it.