When I was thirteen, I started a blog called “Seeking Perfection”. Seems like I was already a perfectionist at quite a young age, and I admit, not much has changed since then. Last year, after participating in The Arc UK, I made a decision: I wanted to create my own dream job, and in 6 months’ time, set up my own company. This brought with it a huge challenge: how to find that perfect idea? – by Zsofia Komaromi
The decision was done. I was looking for independence and to do something meaningful. Only one question had to be answered: what kind of business should I start? Web design? An online business? Training? Marketing? I wanted to find this perfect idea that matched my skillset, and also gave me the meaning and independence I was searching for. I also wanted to choose a field where I would happily work for the rest of my life. I felt under a lot of pressure to come up with the solution to the equation. I thought and thought, weighed my options and then realised: none of my ideas were good enough. This was the point when I considered giving up the whole thing, and just sticking with my corporate job, hoping that at some point later in time, another opportunity would present itself.
I shared what I was going through with my friends, and this was the moment when they stepped up to give me the coaching and support I needed.
Failure is an option, as well as a stepping stone
One of my friends told me that he had met many entrepreneurs whose first business had failed. But with the third (not even the second!) try, they have become successful business owners. I realised that even if I found that perfect idea and did everything to the best of my abilities, the company might just fail. But rather than being the end, it would be one stop on the road. And it would provide knowledge and experience on which I could build my next project, and achieve success. It seemed that settling on an idea would be just the start of a long process.
What I also realised was that I needed a kind of dream job, but I didn’t need one that was guaranteed to keep me motivated until the end of my life – simply because there is no such job. People change, and we are not meant to be doing the same thing throughout our whole life.
My friends were also there to push me to just do something, anything. They made me realise that it would be much better to actually get to work and try something rather than being stuck in that state of not being able to make a decision and eventually giving up. To do this, I had to let go of something that I believed in until then: the perfect solution.
You don’t need to look far to find your passion
So I set about finding something that I was passionate about. I decided to look around in my everyday life to see what it was that I was already doing and would like to pursue further. I realised that this was training. I had been delivering training sessions on a variety of topics in youth organisations for years, and recently this had been the biggest source of energy and inspiration in my life.
It seemed like a marketable idea, so I decided to go with it, and shared my plan with people until I found those who wanted to work with me.
The Impact Team
Now, a year has passed, and I can say that I am on the way to success: I founded Impact, where I work together with four people very close to my heart, helping young people kick-off their careers. The ride was not easy but the most difficult part was to get started: letting go of my perfectionism and just getting to work.
If you’re in a similar situation, remember: now is the right time to take that first step towards achieving your goal.
