Perfection Is The Enemy

My coaching group did a video challenge recently, and I wanted to share a couple of things I learned from it.

Anyway, the challenge was to record one video and publish it on one social media platform every day for 12 days. There was some training, of course, on how to make more professional looking and effective videos  … and while the lessons were useful, they weren’t even close to what made the challenge a success.

You see, we coaches sometimes get in our own way and experience “paralysis by analysis,” too. Sometimes we get stuck, just like our clients do.

And the best way I’ve found to get unstuck is simply to take action.

Do something … one thing … and don’t try to be perfect.

You’ve probably heard me say this before, but it bears repeating.

Perfection is the enemy of progress.

Or as Michael Jordan used to say, “Just Do It.”

Action causes motivation and momentum … not the other way around.

So for almost two weeks, I got to see my fellow coaches get out of their comfort zone and public videos with great information that would be helpful to a lot of people.

If not for the video challenge prompting them to take action – and if not for our coach holding us accountable – most, if not all of those videos never would've been created.

Just think about all the people who saw the videos and were either inspired or motivated to take action as a result. It would’ve been a shame not to educate, inspire and help those people.

The same applies to our health and fitness goals.

Stop waiting for the perfect time. The best time to start is always right now.

Stop delaying until you find the perfect workout. A few squats and push-ups will do the trick for today.

Stop worrying about what someone else will think. If my fellow coaches did that, they never would’ve put out those videos and would’ve missed a lot of opportunities to help people.

So if you’re stuck or struggling to stay on track (or get on track), the best advice I can give you is to take one action … no matter how small … and repeat it every day. 

You’ll be amazed by the momentum and feeling of accomplishment this will create.