A man on a galloping horse wouldn’t notice

“A man on a galloping horse wouldn’t notice” has been my life motto for as long as I can remember.

It comes from my mom’s friend Daphne, who was a prolific and messy quilter. Whenever her friends told her she had to unpick seams so that things lined up perfectly, she would say, “a man on a galloping horse wouldn’t notice!” And as a result, she made many more quilts than any of her friends – all of them brightly coloured and donated to children’s homes.

How wonderful! I swallowed Daphne’s edict whole. It helped cure me of perfectionism and is a big part of why I’m able to get so much done – I’ll try my best, and as long as it’s 80% of the way there, I’m happy.

Except.
Sometimes a man on a galloping horse *would* notice.

Like when you have a 5 min pitch in which to explain why your idea to improve the lives of people with diabetes is worthy of being a finalist in an international diabetes innovation challenge.

Tomorrow afternoon, I pitch. I have revised my script 15 times (no exaggeration – I keep downloading it to print and I’m on version 15). I’ve revised my PowerPoint presentation (the first of my life!) more times than I can count. I have worked evenings and weekends – which is anathema to me – and taken so much feedback, gladly, and pushed myself so far out of my comfort zone that when I spent the morning replying to emails today, it felt like a holiday 😆

I deeply believe in this idea: a diabetes education solution for South Africa – and Africa – using WhatsApp. I have worked so hard to polish this pitch because they cut you off at 5 mins, so every second counts. I can recite whole sentences off by heart, as I have been doing all day.

And so we’ll see! There is literally no more I can do but be present, tomorrow, and do my best.

My galloping horse has taken me this far… I wonder what delightful things are going to happen to me next?

#motto #lifemotto #perfectionism #perfectionist #pitch