If you want to cure perfectionism fast, take on a DIY renovation of an 1800s house. 🏚️🛠️

Nothing is straight, the floors aren’t level, and there are MANY other fun surprises to be discovered along the way.

After spending the entire weekend on what I thought would be a “simple” countertop install, I found myself staring at a 3/4 inch gap between the counter and wall. The wall, as it turns out, had its own ideas about what straight meant.

As a recovering perfectionist, this was more than a renovation challenge—it was a personal reckoning.

So I had two choices: I could tear everything out and start over, or I could accept that sometimes perfect isn’t possible – or even necessary.

That gap, and SO many other projects in my old home, became unexpected teachers about perfectionism. Here are some of the lessons:

🧱 Sometimes the “fix” makes it worse – I could’ve forced that counter against the wall, but it would’ve created problems elsewhere. How often do we create bigger issues by trying to force a “perfect” solution?
🧱 The best solution might be acceptance – Ultimately, there was no easy fix for the gap, but we did our best to fill it and hide it with the backsplash. Sometimes it’s about finding creative ways to work with reality rather than fighting it.
🧱 Perfect is exhausting – At first, I spent hours obsessing over little imperfections before realizing something: my pursuit of perfection wasn’t serving anyone. Not me, not my timeline, and certainly not my (or my dad’s, who helped me SO much along the way) sanity.
🧱 Resilience matters more than perfection – This house hasn’t been ‘perfect’ since 1896 (or maybe ever?), but it’s still standing strong and serves it’s purpose beautifully.

Sometimes as leaders we feel like we have to get everything perfect.

But rather than focusing on perfection (which is unattainable) we can focus on creating something functional, meaningful, and real – even if that means embracing a few gaps along the way.

And, that gap? I barely think about it now, and the beautiful new countertop is my favorite part of the kitchen. Funny how that works, huh?

📌 When has embracing imperfection actually led to better results in your leadership?