TED Talk Tuesday #141 : Embrace the near win

Watching TED Talks is a popular pastime at CN&CO. We visit TED.com regularly to clear our heads, have a laugh, or get inspired. TED Talks open our minds, spark new ways of thinking, and can lead to some very interesting conversations. Each week we pick a favourite and publish it on a Tuesday, because we like how “TED Talk Tuesday” sounds. This week’s talk was posted by Llewellyn du Plessis. Here’s why he chose it…

Being a perfectionist is not always easy…You take tasks on with only one end goal in mind…Being perfect!

The TED Talk presented by Sarah Lewis on embracing the near win caught my attention as it applies to all of us trying to get everything just PERFECT.

We tend to be very disappointed in ourselves when an event, budget or even a minor task is not executed in a perfect manor. Sarah Lewis talks about how she realised that in order to hit your target, you need to aim slightly off-target to get that perfect bullseye .

“In our pursuit of success and mastery, is it actually our near wins that push us forward?”

We should celebrate the near wins that actually teach us valuable lessons and push us forward in life. With a new decade fast approaching it is the perfect time to take a retrospect view of your successes and achievements, perfect or not, and celebrate what you have achieved so far. Even celebrate the failures as they have guided you onto the road to success and without them you would not have been on the road to even celebrate a near win.

Llew has been working with CN&CO since 2015. At first he engaged with us via his events company, Urban Motion. In 2018 he joined the greater CN&CO team and has run many successful events, including the African Insurance Exchange, InsureTalk, FIA Awards and Summit, African Insurance Organisation conference and the OR Tambo Memorial Lecture.