Shift Perfectionism Using Wabi Sabi

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I'm a business and certified life coach who helps women start and scale their profitable online businesses. I share educational resources around marketing, mindset, social media, business strategy and the soul stuff. To find out more, view my About page

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Hi, I'm robyn

While living in Japan, I learned about the Japanese concept of “Wabi Sabi” which encourages a deep appreciation and celebration of imperfection. The truth is, that even as coaches or creators who deeply honour our work being excellent, I have learned that it’s possible to be devoted to our craft while simultaneously honouring the fact that it cannot be perfect, and can often feel incomplete. To me, this has made a great impact on how I create, curate and connect through my art, my craft and my work.

I believe it’s human to shift and evolve on our own journeys through life, and as we do so, we deepen our embodied wisdom and continue to weave this throughout our work in sacred ways. This is why we often look back at our first few drafts of something and cringe… (just me?)… but without going first, how many of our work wouldn’t be possible?

Can we learn to put our published work out into the world without it needing to be the final word?


When we can get to a place of “accepting this with a humble and open heart” we are able to birth our magic out into the world without holding back due to the paralyzing perfectionism many of us experience. Watch this video for a deep dive on how I have been able to shift my relationship with perfectionism and deepen some of the following understandings:

  • 1. Business is human, and therefore flawed
  • 2. A peaceful mind and inner harmony is essential for a successful business (and we get to consciously create this)
  • 3. Self honouring is the antidote to hiding behind the myth of perfectionism
  • 4. It’s powerful to make old things new, and we don’t need to chase every shiny object (in fact, this prevents momentum and traction)
  • 5. Business has seasons and the ebb and flow is not only natural, it’s essential … we get to lean in

Business is Human

Resisting our humanity within our work is to to our detriment, but it’s also to the detriment of our people. When we deny our wholeness (which inevitably occurs if we deny one part of ourselves, the “imperfect”), we perpetuate shame and dilute the potency of our message. We need to understand that dualities can coexist here: our work can be both imperfect and excellent. Our work can be incomplete and brilliant. Our work can be flawed and inspiring. Our work can be messy and magical.

We can be masters of our craft, devoted to our legacy and body of work while still accepting the inherent imperfection. In fact, I would argue that it’s this acceptance that is foundational to us achieving any growth at all, otherwise we’d edit the rough draft forever. Perhaps this is your sign that it’s time hit “publish”.


Peace and Harmony Leads to Success

I often laugh about the fact that the very thing I resisted most led to my liberation with my business – SYSTEMS. Especially clear, coherent, systems that anchor me in a real way. Systems have decluttered my mental, physical and emotional space, and have created so much peace in my life. Business systems may not be the sexiest thing to talk about but they are grounding and protective of what matters most – both within and outside of the business.

This connects to the harmony of balancing the doing and being, the Masculine and Feminine energetics within as the leader of my business and my life.


The Role of Self Honouring in Business and Coaching

When you’re building an online business or coming from a place of service with your offerings, there’s a lot of YOU involved in all the different aspects and hats you wear. It can be easy, especially in the digital marketing era, to self censor, to self abandon and to not lead from an embodied place. Perfectionism can sometimes cause us to betray ourselves, to dilute our truth and shrink ourselves rather than bringing our whole selves to the conversation. The real caption you want to write? Delete. The raw you on Instagram stories? Add a filter. The offer you rreeeeaaallllyyyyy want to create? No way, nobody would buy THAT. The Youtube channel you want to start? Ugh, the public failure would suckkkkkk. The list could go on and on and on. When you shift away from perfectionism, you also lean away from shame and you lean into wholeness. It’s important to build a business that is of service to YOU as much as you desire to serve others, and self honouring is the cornerstone of that.

For the in depth shift from perfectionism and the lessons of Wabi Sabi, tune into this video here and join our community for weekly videos.

Thanks for being here, the best is yet to come! xo

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