How long does it take to acknowledge the existence of someone you know who has reached out to you directly with a question or comment? I get that people are busy, and that we all get plenty of spam online. I also get that high-level executives feel like their very valuable time (more valuable than yours, of course) should not, under any circumstances, be wasted. I even get that sometimes a note from a friend or acquaintance slips through the cracks even when you have the best intentions to respond.

Maintaining relationships can be hard work, and we all have our little pet excuses that pop up when we may not be in the mood to put in the effort on a given day. The easiest excuse? I need to do this just right to accomplish my goal, otherwise it won’t be worth the effort. But… when was the last time someone interacted with you “perfectly?” What would that even look like? The truth is that “real trumps perfect every time,” because it’s the only consistent way to create trust. Period.

It’s that time of year for plenty of posts on how to “transform” yourself for the new year, and setting goals to better yourself is certainly a worthy pursuit no matter when you do it. But I can’t help thinking that sometimes, we get so caught up in trying to live up to other people’s expectations that it’s easy to lose sight of what makes us unique as individuals. Whether online or out in the world, we live in an era when those expectations are always on display, and our mistakes, mishaps, and embarrassing moments are more public than ever.