And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.
~Roald Dahl

Be the Best: 3 simple words spoken with love that set off my life long journey to make peace with perfectionism.

I’m getting ahead of myself, so let me back up, oh, about 25 years ago. My dad had discovered the work of Denis Waitley at the height of the “success mindset” movement. Dad, who was a bit of an over-achiever himself, loved what he heard and embraced the mantra “Be the Best,” sending my brother and I off to school each day with these (fateful) words.

And so with daily repetition my young subconscious mind rooted that program in deeply, as I started each day of school with the focus to “Be the Best” in everything that I did.

I strived to achieve the highest grades, be the most reliable friend, and involve myself in the best activities and groups (whatever that meant). I was even trying to “be the best” with the party crowd, staying out the latest and partying the hardest, thus setting up the foundation for a work hard/play hard way of life.

And in many ways, I was the best, graduating high school and college at the top of my class and getting recruited while still in school for a lucrative and flexible marketing job in a large corporation right after graduation.

But perfectionism’s kissing cousin burnout was just around the corner, and I quit that “great-on-paper” job just 6 months into it, acting on a feeling that it just wasn’t right (thank you very much, intuition). Fortunately, the Universe took care of me, as it always does, steering me to a job in the world of travel just a couple of short weeks after leaving my first job.

And yet, as we so often find when we don’t get to the root of an issue, I found myself still dealing with the same problem, albeit surrounded by new scenery. I continued pushing too hard, never accepting that “my best” was “the best,” as the travel industry became the entertainment industry became the coaching and healing industry.

But through time and a deepening connection to my intuition and authentic self, I started to come to a greater awareness of the misunderstanding that was at the root of my perfectionism: that my best in any given moment had very little to do with what my ego mind thought it did.

When I really listened to my truth, I recognized that being my best was so much less about what I was doing and so much more about the actual being part.

This lesson has landed in an even deeper way in recent months, as I consciously shifted my energy to prepare for motherhood. Yes, you read that right – I’m going to be a mommy :).

And in many ways, my pregnancy journey has been truly glorious and beyond my wildest dreams as I open, expand, and embrace all that is and all that is coming forth. But it has also been one more beautifully intense lesson to reacquaint myself with what it means to be the best, with my ego accusing me of falling short of this goal as I consciously slow down in my business and life.

In fact, part of the reason I haven’t written in a couple of months is because I wanted to truly share the “best” version of my pregnancy journey. I wanted to wrap up all of my lessons in a pretty package and present it to you in all its glory, bright and shiny with a bow on top.

Thankfully I have practiced listening to my intuition enough to hear it speak up and remind me that to simply be here now is the fullest expression of being the best, so I switched my focus from trying to be something other than what I already am to seeing instead the magic in every seemingly ordinary moment.

Click to tweet>> What if instead of asking “what am I capable of?” we ask “what is the Universe capable of through me?” <<Click to tweet

The world is more than just what we achieve on our own; remembering that the Universe is here to support and help you co-create not only takes the pressure off of this perfectionist goal to be the best, but also reminds you that more often than not, you don’t need to DO anything for magic to exist in the world.

And trust me, magic is the very nature of our world, showing up in so many amazing ways, always revealed to us when we seek it. So nowadays I strive to gauge each day on this magic that exists, even in the ordinary, and appreciate the co-creation that is always sparking between my open heart and the world around me.

I invite you to join me; start with the simple intention every morning to “see the magic” and ask the Universe to “show you the magic” in the world around you as it guides you to be the best co-creator you can be in each little moment.

And then trust…yourself AND the Universe as you work together to create your perfect life.

I’d love to hear from you: what “ordinary moments of magic” have revealed themselves to you today?