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Have you ever found yourself waiting for the ‘perfect’ moment to start something, only to realize that moment never comes?
Maybe it’s launching a new product, sharing content online, or even starting a new habit in your personal life. I’ve been there—stuck in the ‘all-or-nothing’ mindset. If I couldn’t give 100%, I didn’t want to do it at all.
And let me tell you, that mindset held me back for WAY too long.
Whether it’s in your business or your personal life, the pressure to do everything perfectly can be overwhelming. We convince ourselves that if we’re not going all-in, it’s not worth doing.
But here’s the truth: perfectionism isn’t the key to success—consistency is.
Today, we’re talking about how the all-or-nothing mindset is probably doing more harm than good, and how breaking free from it can open up doors you didn’t even know were closed.
I’m going to share a bit of my own story, how I let go of perfectionism and started focusing on small, consistent improvements instead. That shift has been life-changing for both my business and personal health. Plus, I’ll give you actionable tips that you can start implementing today to break free from that mindset.
Get ready for an honest conversation about perfectionism, progress, and how to finally move forward—without waiting for it to be perfect. Let’s go!
The Trap of Perfectionism
Perfectionism is one of the biggest roadblocks entrepreneurs face, leading to procrastination, burnout, and ultimately inaction. In fact, I’ve had to adopt a “done is better than perfect” mentality in business to keep showing up, keep creating, keep putting myself out there!
Perfectionism tricks us into thinking that doing nothing is better than doing something imperfectly. It leads to procrastination and procrastination threatens the fact that we’ll never do the things we’re meant to do.
The Hardin Group conducted research in partnership with the Social Research Lab at the University of Northern Colorado, and they found that 86% believed perfectionist expectations impact their work.
Perfectionism manifests itself in business in various ways, like waiting for the perfect time to start or obsessing over details that don’t actually matter in the bigger picture.
Although my team and I have high standards for ourselves and our work, we’ve also found that adopting a mindset of progress over perfection has been a game-changer for our business. It helps us see the bigger picture and not get bogged down with small, insignificant details.
Why the “All-or-Nothing” Approach Doesn’t Work
The “all-or-nothing” mindset creates pressure that leads to burnout and unsustainable habits.
This mindset applies to both business AND personal life, whether that be health and fitness or even your relationships, and having this outlook sets you up for failure.
My natural tendency is to see things in black and white, but lately, I’ve been leaning more into the gray. I’m a person who’s all or nothing when it comes to things and so learning how to accept and WELCOME the middle approach is hard!
However, I know that success comes from building sustainable habits and how small, incremental actions lead to greater long-term results.
Shifting from “all or nothing” to “something is better than nothing” has allowed me to make progress even when I wasn’t feeling 100%.
The Power of Small, Consistent Actions
“If you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done.” That’s one of my favorite quotes from the legendary book, Atomic Habits by James Clear.
It’s important to understand that consistency beats intensity. Small, daily actions compound over time to create significant results.
So, every day, if you can just focus on taking ONE action to move the needle forward, that will compound over time!
With my health journey, I changed things slowly over time. I was recently diagnosed with PCOS out of the blue and it was so interesting because I googled things you should do for it and realized that I actually started my journey of healing years and years ago without really knowing it, from eliminating gluten, to lowering my blood sugar, to more mindful movement, etc.
I realized it was a blessing the diagnosis went unchecked for so long because I would have been overwhelmed with all the lifestyle changes I would have had to make and likely not followed through.
Whether it’s posting content consistently, chipping away at a big project in small bursts, or committing to bite-sized goals, digging your biggest goals lie in the little things.
Something that changes the game for me is that perfection isn’t the goal—momentum is. When you do something consistently, it becomes a habit, and that’s when the magic happens.
So, let go of the need for everything to be perfect before you start and instead focus on taking small, meaningful steps every day!
Actionable Tips for Letting Go of Perfectionism
Shifting your mindset is a process, but there are practical steps to begin breaking free from perfectionism! Start before you’re ready. Launch messy, knowing that you can improve along the way.
We did this when launching with our new brand… We knew every single web page and graphic template wouldn’t be ready on the day we launched, but we gave ourselves permission to launch it anyway and continue to update things over time.
The best advice I can give you is to set realistic, small goals that feel doable—even on your worst days. Micro-goals keep you moving forward without feeling overwhelming.
Also, it’s important to celebrate progress, not perfection. Acknowledging even the smallest wins keeps you motivated and moving forward!
One of the best things you can do is reframe failure as learning. Each setback is a stepping stone to improvement, and NO journey to success is without hiccups.
Surround yourself with people who embrace progress over perfection—whether through a mastermind, online community, or accountability partners.
Final Thoughts
I hope today’s episode gave you some powerful insight into how the all-or-nothing mindset might be holding you back.
Perfectionism isn’t your path to success—consistent, small steps are. Whether it’s your business, health, or any other area of your life, focusing on progress over perfection will get you much further in the long run.
So, what’s one small step you can take today?
Maybe it’s launching that project you’ve been sitting on, posting that content you’ve been holding back, or just taking a few minutes to move your body. Whatever it is, just start. No matter how small, every step counts.
As always, Goal Digger, keep on digging your biggest goals… because you are more than capable of making progress—one imperfect step at a time.
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