This Is The Unusual Way Perfectionism Almost Saved My Business
The weird line between high standards and no progress
I used to think perfectionism meant having high standards.
What I’ve learned is that real standards come from learning, iterating, improving - not obsessing in isolation.
Procrastination is most people’s worst enemy. It’s always there, quietly lurking. And in today’s world, distractions are constant.
When you combine that with perfectionism, you get stuck.
It’s easy to get lost in wanting to be perfect and end up not doing the thing at all, or giving up before it’s even out there.
This past week, I was working on a proposal for my first major deal in my new business. The kind of opportunity that could really change things for me - so naturally, I wanted to get it right. I put a lot of pressure on myself, thinking: this has to be perfect.
So, I worked on it. And kept working on it. Literally spent hours every day, obsessing, rewriting, overthinking, and ended up with nothing solid to show for it.
And then I realised, perfectionism can drive high standards - but if it’s not paired with momentum, it turns into a trap.
It’s not wrong to care. It’s not wrong to want your work to shine.
But at some point, you have to let it go, even if it’s still a bit rough around the edges.
What’s the point of striving for perfection if it means you never finish the thing that could actually move you forward?
I had to give myself a good talking-to. I reminded myself that getting it out there is better than getting it perfect. Because the only way to improve is to release something into the world, get feedback, and refine from there. But you can’t do that if you never hit send. Never publish. Never ship.
You might be sitting on a goldmine - of money, opportunities, time, freedom - but if you're too worried about being perfect, you might never unlock it.
I learned this lesson a long time ago, actually. My first job working in a tech company as a consultant. I used to spend hours trying to make PowerPoint slides look perfect — choosing fonts, lining things up pixel by pixel. It was laughable. Eventually I realised: there’s no way to grow if I waste all my time worrying about font sizes. That kind of perfectionism keeps you small.
You’ve probably heard “fail fast” a hundred times. Everyone says it — few actually do it. But it’s powerful. Getting something out into the world, even if it’s a bit rubbish, teaches you way more than obsessing over every tiny detail.
Trying your best doesn’t mean obsessing until it’s flawless. It means putting your energy into the right places and letting go of the rest.
Because let’s be real - even if you do spend 17 hours perfecting something, you’ll still doubt it afterward. You’ll still think: Should I have worded that differently? Why did I bold that bit and not the other? Maybe I should’ve used Avenir instead of Times New Roman. Self-doubt doesn’t care how long you spent.
Do you really need that kind of headfuck?
Let it go.
Those little details don’t matter as much as you think they do.
This whole experience was a reminder for me - perfection is a progress-killer. So here’s my reminder to you:
Set a timeframe. Do your best within that window. And send it anyway. Even if it’s not 100%. Because you’ll learn more by doing that than you ever will by sitting on it for days (or forever). And if you’re a writer on Substack, that might mean finally hitting publish.
So what if someone doesn’t like it? So what if a few people laugh?
The fact that you cared enough to create something — that matters more than all of that.
Just think about what you want to happen. Then let it happen.
That’s where I’m at right now.
If you struggle with this too, I’d genuinely love to hear how you deal with it, because we’ve all got different ways of getting through the mess.
If you found this post helpful, please consider sharing it with someone else because someone out there is probably overthinking their next move, and this might be the push they need.
Hope you have a great week.
