The Perfection Trap
After all, who doesn’t want to be perfect?
Perfection doesn’t exist.
It sounds good, but what they don’t tell you is that it’s a trap.
Sure, there are things that can be exact or precise, but perfection exists only in the realm of "forms," not in the realm of the physical.
And here’s the kicker: chasing perfection doesn’t just fail to get you closer—it can actually stop you from moving forward at all.
The Badge of Perfectionism
Many people wear “perfectionism” like a badge, the same way they wear “being busy.” But being a perfectionist doesn’t mean you’re perfect. It usually just means that you won't do anything without it being perfect, which ends up meaning simply, you won't do anything at all.
I used to tell myself I wasn’t a perfectionist because nothing I did was perfect. Then I started to realize that I was not doing a lot of things because I couldn't do them perfectly.
There was actually a sneaky perfectionist running the show and holding me back.
When Natural Talent Backfires
As a kid, I tried many things and was naturally good at a lot of them. That might sound like a blessing, but it created a problem: if I wasn’t instantly good at something, I assumed it wasn’t for me. I quit before I had the chance to grow.
That’s what perfectionism does—it convinces you not to bother unless the outcome is flawless.
That has really backfired in my adult life as I encountered more challenging things that I actually needed to work at.
I try to adopt the principle of “beginner’s mind,” but my sneaky perfectionist hates that and taunts me from the deep within. It takes regular reminders that it’s ok to try, experiment, and fail.
There was a while where I had a yearning to create more art, but perfectionism was getting in the way, and so I decided I would purposely create ugly art. When the art turned out ugly, that was great because that was my goal; when the art was beautiful, that was also great.
Done Is Better Than Perfect
Eventually, I started leaning into the phrase: “done is better than perfect.”
It’s uncomfortable when you can see all the ways something could be better. But time and energy are limited, and you could tinker forever. Sometimes you have to decide: enough is enough.
You will learn so much more by being in action and finishing an imperfect thing, than you will by getting stuck trying to make something perfect.
This mindset has been a game-changer, especially with my recent return to YouTube.
Breaking Through with Action
Years ago, I posted videos regularly. Then I went through some major life changes and stopped. I always meant to start again, but it lived on my to-do list quarter after quarter.
Finally, in frustration, I gave myself a 30-day challenge: post a video every single day.
There's something about a big, bold challenge like this that kicks you out of perfectionism and into action. If you've got to do it every day, you can't be fussed with making it perfect. You've got to get it done and move on to the next.
And here’s what happened:
I got comfortable with my setup.
I went from winging it to being more intentional.
I stopped obsessing over the “right” topic and just talked about what mattered to me.
It hasn’t skyrocketed my views or subscribers (yet), but it’s been enormously valuable for me personally. I’ve proved to myself that I can show up. And once this challenge is over, I’ll have the consistency and confidence to keep going—with more energy to invest in quality and marketing.
What This Means for You
The truth is, perfectionism doesn’t make you excellent—it makes you stuck. If you’ve been holding back on something important because it doesn’t feel perfect yet, ask yourself:
What would happen if I let it be “good enough” and just got it out into the world?
What could I learn or gain from doing it imperfectly?
What small challenge could I give myself to get moving again?
The path forward is rarely perfect—but it’s always better than staying frozen.
Over the last few months I've been working on a community for Living the Game of Life and it has fluttered around a bit, but finally landed on Skool. It's very new and very fresh and barely started, but I'd love it if you wanted to be there for the beginning.
Curious where you are on your journey?
Take my free quiz: What’s Your Midlife Reawakening Archetype? You’ll discover your unique strengths, challenges, and the next best step to design a chapter of life that feels authentic and fulfilling.
Done is better than perfect..oh boy, so good and so challenging to a recovering perfectionist! Thanks for the encouragement.
Thank you for this reminder, it is soo important. I cannot count the number of times I’ve put something off because I know it won’t turn out perfectly.. or the number of hours I’ve spent fixing small details which I’m the only one who notices anyway. Done is a 1000 times better than perfect! ✅👏