Making SBL bloopers

Laura Williams, SBL coach and trainer, L J Business Consultancy, on why you shouldn’t compare your bloopers to someone else’s highlight reel

Just after its official release, Adele shared a blooper reel from her Easy on Me video. The cassette wouldn’t stay in the cassette player, she got attacked by pieces of paper and her coat just kept getting in the way! It’s so funny – especially when you’ve seen the final, cinematic, polished video (which is, of course, epic!)
 
Whilst Adele might be known for her amazing voice, her amazing songs, and her amazing videos, she’s also known for being real. By showing us behind the scenes – doing things like Carpool Karaoke and talking about her vulnerabilities so openly – she is an excellent example of what could be called ‘perfect imperfection’.

Nothing is perfect – not really.

Perfection is an illusion. 

That ‘perfect take’ takes hours and hours of practice. It’s the result of umpteen ‘imperfect takes’, lots of learning, and hopefully, lots of laughter along the way!

That’s what being a SBL is like too.

Whilst we may be striving for the ‘perfect take’, the perfect response, or the perfect feedback, we can’t forget that we are human. Some days we have to settle for just getting by and some days, well – it just goes wrong.
 
Nobody is expecting that it won’t.
 
Remind yourself of this the next time you feel that knot of fear and anxiety expanding in your stomach.
 
Crap happens. Things go wrong.
 
But you will get through this.
 
You’ve got through everything else till now, right?
 
Take a deep breath.
 
Remind yourself that even on a crap day you are still frickin’ awesome.
 
And when you feel yourself freaking out because everybody else seems to have it all together and you feel like you just want the ground to swallow you up…

Remember this…
 
Don’t compare your ‘blooper reel’ to someone else’s highlight reel.
 
Being perfectly imperfect is not a failing. It means that we care, we’re real and we’re invested. We aren’t machines that just get things done.

We do it better.

We improvise, we adapt, we support and cheer each other on, and we achieve what appears to be impossible time and time again.

So be perfectly imperfect and be proud of it! (Even when your day is non-stop outtake material!)