Just get in the game!

When I saw my old sock, greyish from years of wear, sitting with a second place ribbon in the local fair this week I was a bit skeptical.

Sliding the ribbon and name tag aside I finally saw the six ‘bedazzled’ jewels constructing a rudimentary mouth, and understood that this was in fact a sock puppet, albeit a minimalist one at best.

Hazel was quite proud of her victory, which I believe was even worth a few dollars of prize money. The fact that she had won second, (out of two...haha) was quite an exciting event.

This was the perfect anecdote to the ‘analysis paralysis’ that has been plaguing other areas of my life.

I’ve observed friends’ struggle to “ship the work” (to use Seth Godin’s language) because of overthinking, over-analysis, and too much perfection. The expression “Perfection is the enemy of great”, even emerged at a meeting last week.

Hazel’s puppet was likely not the best one that the Vegreville fair will ever see, but she met the parameters of the contest, entered the game, and enjoyed the victory.

Put the deliberation aside, and just start ‘doing’.

• Now that’s a peak ethos.