Perfection and Self Doubt


This a repost of the article published on linkedIn by Ash Srivastava
I have thought about writing on LinkedIn for some time. I kept going from one idea to another until I could think of something smart or genius or perfect, but I could not think about anything :)
One of my other challenge was that I wanted to have the "PERFECT first post", like a Disney blockbuster which has all the right ingredients and perfect story telling. I was waiting for an inspiration which will somehow make the perfect first post on LinkedIn, maybe some sort of celebrity endorsement of my unknown stature in the world of LinkedIn which will launch me into stardom and make me into a star (secretly wishing that people will line up to take selfies with the "guy with the PERFECT first post" lol).
I was walking by the CIBC HQ last week and I saw Victor Dodig(CEO of CIBC - for those who do not know, he love's selfies). I walked up to him and asked, "Victor, you mind if we took a selfie with you?". It all went smoothly and you can see the picture above. After I took the selfie, I thanked him and started walking to my office but my mind was racing from one thought to another. It went something like, "I have just got a selfie with one of the top financial leaders in Canada and maybe I can now go and write my perfect first post(hopefully be known as 'The guy with the PERFECT first post' then I just need to wait for 10000 likes and 100s of comments lol). 

Suddenly and amidst all this excitement my best friend self-doubt showed up to the party and said, "Calm down buddy!. Will Victor be enough to launch your first post? You should have asked to take selfies with a few other C-level guys?". Huh? What? That is out of the box success killing mind paralyzing thought, suddenly my publishing future was looking bleak(lol). I starting doubting myself as to why I did not have the presence of mind? I definitely should not post this selfie...and the downward spiral of self-sabotage began...very dramatic in hindsight ! 
Does this sound familiar? Do you regret loosing something which you never had. Are you afraid to fail because you want to only showcase something when you are perfect?
In life all too often we look for answers when we have all the answers. We look for inspiration when we have all the inspiration. We look outside instead of looking inside. We put too much expectation in other people instead of our own abilities. We expect too much from others instead of exceeding our own expectations. Remember your success on LinkedIn or in any other area of life will be decided by your own determination, discipline and persistence - it is nice to get approval but it is not a determinant of your success. I will be successful as long as I write content which adds value consistently, if I give up before finding my audience then only I am to blame for that.
Self-doubt is a creature of the mind and destroyer of potential. You must always march forward with faith in your abilities and confidence in your thoughts. Believe that you can change the world and you will. Fail Fast and Learn Fast and Keep implementing the feedback loop until you get to your destination.