Thriving in Life by Embracing Imperfection

Originally published: 6 March 2024. Last updated: 8 June 2025.

Burnout.
Adrenal fatigue.
Run down.
Overworked.
Stressed.

Chances are, you’ve felt at least one (or all) of these before. For many women, especially those in seasons of motherhood, business, or deep personal growth, it’s an all-too-familiar cycle. You’re juggling so many roles — and you care deeply about doing them well (dare I say, even doing them 'perfectly').

But when you’re trying to do everything at once — and do it all perfectly — you burn through your energy faster than your body can replenish it. You start to feel like you’re failing at everything… and letting everyone down, including yourself.

I know this place well. But I was also lucky to have a mentor who once told me something that shifted everything:
“You can have it all — just not all at the same time.”

At the time, I took that message to heart. It allowed me to stop trying to be everything, everywhere, all at once. It gave me permission to slow down and honour the season I was in — and for that, I’m so grateful.
It helped me avoid burnout. It helped me learn to let go.

The Perfection Trap

Back then, I was trying to be the perfect mum, perfect farmer, perfect wife, perfect business owner, perfect naturopath, perfect friend, daughter, sister… you name it.
(I was even trying to have the perfect self-care routine — because, of course, if you're going to burn out, you may as well do it properly, right? 😅)

But when I was pregnant and preparing for birth, I gave myself permission to focus on what mattered most to me in that moment: being the best mum I could be. And that decision brought so much clarity and peace.

Still, something unexpected happened.

That well-meaning advice — “you can have it all, just not all at the same time” — started to feel limiting too. I began interpreting it as “you can have everything you want in life, but only one thing at a time.”

So while I poured my heart into mothering, I let go of almost everything else. I stepped back from business and farm life completely, believing there’d be a time in the future to pick those parts back up again.

But eventually, something shifted in me again.

A New Perspective: You Can Have It All… Just Not All Of It

I had a realisation recently — one of those little “click” moments that comes after years of evolving.

You can have it all.
You can even have it all at the same time.
You just can’t have all of everything at the same time.

Let me explain…

I don’t need to be doing every single enriching activity with my children, raising every kind of animal on the farm, and running a multi-million dollar business all at once.

I can be a present and loving mother — even if I’m not doing all the Pinterest-worthy crafts.
I can be a farmer — even if we’ve only got a couple of animals right now.
I can run a successful, soul-aligned business — even if it’s smaller and intentionally spacious.

It sounds so obvious when I write it out like this. But when you’re in the thick of it, it’s easy to believe that if you’re not doing it all at 100%, you’re not doing enough (hello stuck emotions and a hell of a lot of ERT for myself! I highly recommend getting some sessions for yourself you you tend to be a perfectionist and burn yourself out too).

Thriving Doesn’t Require Perfection

You don’t need to be perfect to thrive.
You don’t need to do everything to be enough.
And you don’t need to wait for some future season to start honouring what matters to you now.

You can hold space for multiple things at once — your children, your work, your joy, your rest — and do it imperfectly.
You can follow your own rhythm, set your own expectations, and trust your own capacity.

And when you let go of perfection, you make space for presence. For creativity. For connection.
You make space to actually enjoy your life — not just manage it.

So here’s your permission slip (if you need one):
You don’t have to get it all right.
You just have to choose what matters, honour your capacity, and trust that doing it imperfectly is more than enough.

Because you are not here to tick every box.
You are here to thrive.