A while ago I received an email from one of my students. And this is what she wrote: “Hi Hadar, I'm not young anymore (78 years old) I'm from South Africa. It's my fourth year in the States. I'm glad that I discovered you. Hope I will be as successful as you are on this new journey. My problem is that I am very shy and if I can not do something perfect it feels like a failure.” I was very touched by her words, but I couldn’t get that last sentence out of my head. “If I can not do something perfect it feels like a failure.” You see, I’ve been teaching students for over 16 years now, and have seen so many bright, brilliant, and super successful individuals, who weren’t able to say a full sentence without stopping, apologizing, or feeling embarrassed. And even though they had oceans and forests and mountains of words in them, they wouldn't use them because: The word was not “good” enough The pronunciation was not “clear” enough They weren't sure if the tense was accurate (enough) Now, I know I know you're probably thinking: "Well, Hadar, you teach us ACCURATE pronunciation.” Yes. It's true. But I don’t promote perfection. I WANT imperfection, mistakes and awkward moments. Because I know, from my own personal experience, that these were the moments I have learned the most from. Maybe you’ve heard this message from me before, but maybe not. I’m here to remind you that perfection is overrated, and the FEAR of failure is actually what will set you up to fail. How about you? How comfortable are you with making mistakes? - @hadarshemeshenglish