If something needs to change, what do you do when you realize you actually won’t be able to see all the desired changes take place this time around? Do you take the next step, however small, realizing that it’s incomplete and there’s still much more to be done? Or do you hold out, waiting until you’re able to make all the desired changes at once?
Sometimes, if you choose the first option, you will be accused of compromising — of “settling.” But there’s a difference between compromising your values, and of strategically taking steps forward where you can. If you take a step, and then have to wait awhile before you can take another one, you’re still closer to the end goal than you were when you first started.
If you tend to be idealistic, it may be challenging to “settle” for solutions that are less than ideal. But this is common in life. Rarely do we find the perfect solution. The real question should not be, “Is it perfect?” but, “Is it headed in the right direction?”
We will have plenty of moments where we’ll have to choose whether it’s better to take a step forward, even if it’s not ideal, or to hold out for the perfect solution. And although this isn’t always the case, often taking a step in the right direction, is preferable to being idealistic and doing nothing at all.