The Messy Middle

✅    I’ve started writing a book. Three times.

✅    I’ve started writing a musical. Two times.

✅    I’ve started writing a stand-up routine. In my head. A million times!

I was in a conversation with a friend recently about starting projects or goals:

👍 “I’m going to write the Great American Novel!”

👍 “I’m going to lose 10 pounds!”

👍 “I’m going to build a perpetual motion machine!”

My friend and I were talking about goals and dreams and projects. Our conversation moved to how the Perfectionist often gets in our way of even just starting.

The Perfectionist is sneaky, though. He can be like Tom Cruise in the Mission Impossible movies, wearing a seamless disguise. Sometimes, the Perfectionist doesn’t reveal himself until we’ve started a project.

Ever the Master of Disguise, he reveals himself now in what my friend called “the Messy Middle.”

When we start a project, we’re all excited. We’ve been dreaming of this for years, or maybe just moments ago, and now, we’re taking action! We sit behind the keyboard and let the fingers work. We start sketching out the new headboard. We run out to Home Depot to buy a new lathe. We visualize our dream as the finished product and imagine all the glory that will be heaped upon us when we’re finished!

Then we get going and, suddenly, it’s taking longer than expected. Maybe we’re short on lumber or distracted by all the distractions. Progress isn’t going how we expected. We’re now in the Messy Middle.

The only way to get through? You have to push through, the way out is the way in. Recognize that the Messy Middle is the hard work, the obstacle, to do it anyway. As we’re working on it, know that not every day will be the best or even most productive. The Perfectionist wants everything done all at once, perfect the first time. He’ll try any tricks up his sleeve, like a cufflink blow-dart, to slow us down, trip us up, or encourage us to walk away.

How do we make it through the Messy Middle:

👉 Step away for a while. Maybe a few minutes, maybe the rest of the day.

👉 Take a walk without a phone.

👉 Have an accountability partner.

👉 Work on laundry, dishes, cleaning the house. Small successes and accomplishments encourage more success!

How do you recognize when you’re in the Messy Middle? How do you overcome that and keep moving? Drop some ideas in the comments below. I’d love to hear your process.