← The Goal Digger Podcast | Top Business and Marketing Podcast for Creatives, Entrepreneurs, and Women in Business
The Goal Digger Podcast | Top Business and Marketing Podcast for Creatives, Entrepreneurs, and Women in Business
918: Your Perfectionism Is Costing You Money (Here's the Escape Plan)
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Today's episode is sponsored in part by Mercury, Morgan Stanley Skims and Bol and Branch. Mercury streamlines your banking and finances in one place so you can focus on growing your online business. Visit mercury.com to apply online in 10 minutes. Listen to Candid conversations about people's fears and hopes around money on what Should I Do with My Money? From Morgan Stanley? Search for what Should I Do with My Money? In your podcast player now. I've been a skims fan for years and the Fits Everybody collection is a favorite I keep reaching for. Shop the Skims Fits everybody collection@skims.com Golddigger start building your sanctuary of comfort this fall with bowl and branch. For a limited time, get 20% off your first set of sheets, plus free shipping@bolandbranch.com Golddigger as always, you can find all of our amazing deals in the show Notes. Now let's dive in. Huge Savings on Dell AI PCs are here and it's a big deal. Why? 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She cares if you can help her sleep through the night again or grow her revenue or save her marriage or help her kids eat vegetables. Like nobody cares about your perfect I'm Jenna Kutcher and I help you trade hustle for purpose and build a business that gives you the life you actually want to live. From a $300 Craigslist camera to a seven figure business I run from home, I've learned that success isn't just about what you do, it's about how you live. Here you'll get strategies that work, systems that give you your time back and steps that turn your effort into results and impact. If you're ready for clarity, confidence, and a business that feels as good as it look, you're in the right place. This is the Gold Digger podcast. Hi, it's me. And I want today's episode to feel almost like a letter to you. The person who has a Google Doc full of brilliant ideas, a camera roll full of content that maybe you'll post later, and a heart full of dreams that you're not quite ready to share. And I'll be the first to admit, you do not need my permission. But if you're feeling like you need it, this episode can be your permission slip. I almost want it to be like a wake up call. It's me gently grabbing you by the shoulders and saying, the world doesn't need another perfect thing. The world doesn't need another perfect thing. What it needs is your imperfect, messy, beautiful, generous contribution. And I need to tell you something that might sting a little bit. Your perfectionism. It isn't protecting your reputation. It is attempting to protect your ego. And the reality of that is that it's costing you real money, real impact, and real progress towards the life that you say that you want. The life that you actually want. So today, it's my goal to make that end. Here is the escape plan to help you choose progress over perfection once and for all. I want you to consider this right now. Like right in this moment. Right now, someone is sitting on a business idea and they are waiting for the quote perfect moment. While someone else just spent three weeks perfecting a logo for a business that they haven't launched. Someone else is storing super helpful content in their drafts folder. Someone else is rewriting the same email for the fourth time instead of hitting send. Maybe that someone is you. Now, here's what I've learned after building my business over the last decade. At the heart of it, and this took me a long time to learn, perfectionism is selfish. Every single minute you spend polishing something that could have already been helping someone else is a minute you're withholding value from the people you claim to want to serve. And every hour you spend perfecting is an hour that you're not spending. Leaning in, learning from real feedback, being in community with your people. Every delayed launch is revenue literally walking straight out your door. And so today, together, we're going to get over the perfection trap. Okay? At least we're gonna commit to it. Commit to trying. So first, there's this thing that I do not think entrepreneurs think about enough. And it should be Something that you think about every single day. And that is the perfectionism task. Like, I don't think that we actually connect the dots that our desire to be perfect is actually costing us. And it's an expensive cost. And so when I think about perfectionism, I often associate it and I connect the dots in my busy brain. I connect the dots between perfectionism and procrastination. I think perfectionism is just a fancy form of procrastination. But what's interesting is, is that if we can understand that, we can see that we often don't take it a step further and see that there is a literal cost to it. Let me break down the three main taxes that you are, quote, paying by using your perfection to hold you back. Okay, so first is the time tax. Okay, the time tax. So what does this look like? Okay, I have a friend who I have gone on vacation with the last two years. So we have spent an entire week together. And in the last two years, she has told me about this course that she wants to create. Now, she has been through crazy things in her life. She has navigated grief and pain. She has walked this insane road, and she is like a beacon of light to so many women. And my sweet friend, I'm not going to say her name, but if she listens to this, she'll know I'm talking about her. She has had this outline just sitting in her drafts folder for two years. She has not taken any action. She has not put anything out there. She's not even left a breadcrumb for her audience to consider that more resources are. Are going to be available for them. Now in the same two years that she's been sitting on it, I have watched other people launch courses from scratch that have not just changed their life, like, financially has changed the lives of the people they've created it for. I have watched so many successful creators. I've watched my friend Jennifer launch a course about dahlias. I have watched a friend launch a course about how to get your child to. To go to the bathroom. I mean, I've watched so many different people launch offers. And so the time tax is incredibly real where not only are you holding yourself back from getting the results that you desire, but you're also withholding helpful information from the people that you say that you care deeply about. The time tax is so incredibly real. And for me, this one hurts the most because I have been saying this for years. Time is my currency. Like, we can go out and we can make more money, but we can never get back Our time. And so the time tax is something that you have to consider and you have to see that your perfectionism is making you waste precious time. And it is also holding you back from making the impact with the time that you have in this life. The second tax is the opportunity tax. Okay, let me tell you a quick story. So when Covid hit and the world started shutting down, as a leader, I had to make some really big decisions. And I decided, okay, we are going to lean into this. We're going to pivot fast. We knew that small businesses were going from a mode of, like, thriving and living in this, like, external world to straight up survival mode, right? Like, how are we going to survive this? How long is this going to be? What is this going to look like? And so immediately I jumped into action. I started creating resources to help business owners adapt to the new way of the world. And I started creating these, like, micro offers that were insanely affordable or free, that were helpful and that were these things that people could put to work immediately. The opportunity tax is, is that if you are slow to take action or if you let your perfectionism hold you back, you miss out on opportunities to step in, to serve, to make an impact and to make an income. Okay? So you have to be able to imperfectly move quickly, like, that's like the only way to say it, or you will miss opportunities. There are probably opportunities you've already missed because you haven't put yourself or your work out there. And the last tax is the confidence tax. And here's what I'm going to say. The longer you wait, the more that you convince yourself you're just not ready. Okay? This happens all the time. I mean, you can see it. Like, imagine this picture with me here. I was a diver. I was a collegiate diver. And every once in a while, the swimmers from the other side of the pool would swim over to the diving well and they'd climb up the 3 meter or the 10 meter platform and they would just stand there. And if anybody stood at the edge too long, I knew they weren't going to do it. It's like they let themselves marinate in their fear long enough to simply not jump. The people who just got up there, they said, ooh, this is scary. And they jumped. They were successful, right? We've all seen it. And so the longer you wait, the more you convince yourself you are not ready. But here's the truth. You're probably not afraid of failure. You're more likely afraid of being judged while you learn publicly and even While you succeed. I mean, the fact of the matter is, a lot of women are afraid to become successful. And so what's interesting is, is that I have seen this over and over and over again. There are two sides of the coin here. You're either afraid to, like, publicly fail or be seen learning publicly, or you're equally afraid of, like, well, what if I do become successful? What if people do start watching me? What if people do see that this is something real? Like, and both sides of those are scary. Yeah. But if you just sit there and think about all the what ifs, you will absolutely convince yourself to not put that thing out into the world. I mean, the reality of what's really happening here is you think that you're worried about strangers on the Internet judging your work, But I'm gonna assume after working with thousands of entrepreneurs, you're probably worried about what the people in your life I'm talking about, like, the ones who supposedly love you and support you, you're probably more worried about what those people will think when you start showing up bigger and bolder and more successful than before. And so I get it. Like, success comes with growth, and it can be scary to think about, like, what if I outgrow my current circle? Or, what if my success makes other people feel less? Or maybe what if people see me and it', like, I'm just too much? Right. These are all things, but these are real taxes that you are paying every single day. You let your perfectionism win. The time tax, the opportunity tax, the confident tax. You're paying. You're paying dividends. So let's talk about, what do we do? Where do we go from here? Like, I don't expect us to overcome a lifelong dedication to being perfect, but I do think that we have the opportunity right now to shift beliefs. When I first came up with this idea for my episode, I started outlining. I just went ham because I just have so many thoughts about perfectionism. And I sent it over to my producer, Christy, and she looked at it, and she goes, whoa, this is, like, really good. This is actionable. And I said, well, what did you think I was going to give you? She's like, I don't know. It just sounded kind of fluffy. But, no, we're going in. And you know what? I think I feel even more passionate about this because I am a recovering perfectionist and raising daughters. I can already see the ways the world tells us that we have to be better and we have to be perfect, and I want to unwire that for us. For them and for our inner child. So here are four truths that I think we have to learn how to accept. But before I tell you those, I want to tell you about this episode of Bluey. So in our family, every single night before bed, so we'll eat dinner, we often go outside, we play with the chickens, we go to the garden, and then we sit down and each kid gets to pick one Bluey episode. So each Bluey episode is like eight minutes long. We have watched all of them probably five times at this point. We can recite them, we know their names. But there is this episode and the episode is called Perfect. And in this episode, Bluey is making a Father's Day card for her dad. And she is just absolutely determined for it to be. Be flawless. And so she starts a card and she draws it. And anytime she notices even just a tiny mistake, like a line out of place or a shape that doesn't look quite right, she gets so frustrated, like mad at herself, right? And so she ends up having this pile of like adorable cards, like any parent would die to get what Bluey has created. And instead of giving those cards to him, she rips them up, she crumples them, she tosses them aside. And I mean, honestly, some of those cards were so good, but they never even saw the light of day. Like, not even like ending up in that random box in your closet type of day. And so I think so many of us can relate to this. Of, like, so many of us have amazing ideas sitting in the digital trash can right now, right? And here's what I've realized. Our perfectionism isn't really about standards. I think a lot of it is conditioning. There are so many small, constant reminders that we're either too much or we're not enough or we're both of those things all at the same same time, right? And so the four beliefs that helped shift things for me, I want to share those. And I need you to not just hear them, but I want for you to like, if you are in a safe place to do this, close your eyes and really just listen to them. And sometimes my therapist makes me do this. But like, imagine what young version of you needed to hear and believe these things. Like, for me, it's always like my 8 year old self. When we were young, we dreamed of castles and fairy tales. And as we grow up, those dreams might shift into building something real, like starting a business. You need a website, payment systems, a logo, and a way to reach customers. It can all be overwhelming and confusing, but thankfully, that's where today's sponsor Shopify comes in. Shopify powers millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all US E commerce. From big brands to folks just getting started. They offer beautiful ready to go website templates so you don't need design skills to look professional. Their AI tools help with product images, descriptions, discount codes and more. Shopify also makes it simple to run email and social campaigns so people can find you. And if you ever feel stuck, their award winning 24. 7 support is always available. Turn those dreams into and give them the best shot at success with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com Golddicker go to shopify.com goaldigger shopify.com Golddigger this podcast is brought to you by Mercury Banking that helps entrepreneurs do more with their money okay I remember in the early days of my entrepreneurship journey, clients would literally mail me checks and then I would have to drive all the way to the bank to deposit them. It took me literal years to make things go digital and I am ashamed to admit I still have a filing cabinet with paper contracts because I'm way too afraid to throw them away. But that's the beauty of growth, right? Like you learn what systems serve you and which ones hold you back. Mercury is one of those systems that just works where traditional banking websites and apps are clunky and hard to use. Mercury is meticulously designed to make doing just about anything with your money feel effortless. And the best part is it flexes to fit all types of businesses. Ready to see what powerful banking can do for your business? Visit mercury.com to apply in minutes. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. For important details, check the show Notes. So the first belief is this. The people holding you back, they're not strangers. It's probably your inner circle. I think this one is probably one of the hardest pills to swallow as an entrepreneur. I mean, it's easy for us to like blame random strangers on the Internet for things. But I feel, and I still think about this to this day, it's far more easy to be worried about. Like your cousin's eye roll at Thanksgiving dinner when you talk about your business. Or you know, your aunt who is all over Facebook and what she thinks about your quote little hobby. It's those people in our lives that really can hold us back. Maybe you're worried about like your college friends who like look at you and think like who is she to do that? Or maybe they think you've gotten too big for your britches. Here's what I need you to hear. The people whose opinions you are afraid of, guess what? They are people who will never write your checks. They're probably not your customers. They're not meant to be your audience. They're not meant to be impacted by what you're doing. I recently heard Alex Hermosi say something that stuck with me, and I'm paraphrasing it here, but he kind of said, stop trying to appease the people who were never going to pay you anyway. And I feel like lately I've gotten a little bit more bold in the way that I'm speaking and what I'm sharing online. After hearing that quote, I was like, yeah, yeah, why? Why am I trying to, like, serve people that are not the people I'm creating for? And why am I worried about what those people think? I mean, have you ever held back from posting something because you were worried about, like, what one specific person would think? Is that just me? Like, you can literally picture a specific human in your life seeing that post and rolling their eyeballs. That person, Guess what? They probably just scrolled past your last five posts without even thinking about them, without even noticing them. Right? We are like drinking out of fire hoses when it comes to content these days. No, nobody is paying as close attention to you in your life as you are, okay? And. And that should give you, like, that should make you feel good. Like, everyone. Imagine everyone looking into a microscope and on the slide where you put, like, the petri things. Can you tell I'm not like a science person? Everyone is looking down into their own lens and inspecting their own life and their posts and their ideas and their content and all these things. We are all so head down in our own lives, we are not spending a lot of time looking at, inspecting, judging other people. At least if you're busy and you're aiming to do good in the world, you're not doing that. And so if you remember that, like, everyone is looking at their own life. Our microscope is on our lives. Theirs is on theirs. Just. Do you. Just. Do you. The second belief is, is that you have to understand this. This is so huge. Your customers, they don't want perfect, they want solutions. Okay? While you're agonizing over whether your font is, quote, professional enough, your ideal client is Googling her problem at 2am, desperate for an answer. Let that sink in. She does not care if your Instagram grid is perfectly cohesive. She cares if you can help her sleep through the night again. Or grow her revenue or save her marriage or help her kids eat vegetables. Like, nobody cares about your personal Perfect. They don't care about your perfect. They care about their problem. Like, think about the last time you desperately needed help with something. Like, did you care if the person helping you had the perfect website or that their grid was perfectly cohesive? Or did you just want your problem solved? Right? Nobody cares about your perfect. They care about their problem solve. It's all you gotta do. Mindset shift number three is this. Hiding your learning process is robbing others of hope. And I'd argue that it's robbing you of results. When you only show the polished final product, you make everyone else feel like they're behind. And you also launch something amazing that you've probably been working on so hard behind the scenes to an audience who wasn't delivered breadcrumbs like they didn't even know anything was coming. And all of a sudden it's like you sit down and you expect like a piece of popcorn and a Thanksgiving feast is in front of you. You're not ready for that. No, you're not ready for that. And so if you are hiding your learning process, if you are not letting people in to the iterating, to the ideas, to what you're learning, when you share things like your mistakes and your pivots and your figure it out as you go moments, you give other people permission to start messy too. And you start to pique their curiosity. Like, what is she up to over there? What's she doing? I'm so curious. What is this going to become? This is fascinating, right? Look at any influencer or entrepreneur you admire. The content that probably made you feel most connected to them was probably not their perfect content. Like their highlight reel, right? Is probably where they opened up about something or they shared their behind the scenes struggles, or they were honest about something, or they let you into a really intimate moment of their life, right? Hiding your learning process is robbing others of hope. It is robbing you of the ability to plant seeds that will become a harvest. And it's making nobody win and nobody ready for what you truly have to offer. The last mindset shift is this. And this is the best. Waiting for perfect is really just your fear wearing a business suit. Here's what I mean by this. You tell yourself you're trying to make something perfect. But here's what I'll argue. You're not actually trying to make it perfect, you're trying to make it criticism proof. And I will tell you this right now, Nothing is criticism proof, especially in the world we live in. Every single day you don't launch or don't publish or don't put something out, there is a day that somebody else does. And every week you spend perfecting is a week that you could have been getting real feedback from real humans. That you are creating for imperfect action beats perfect inaction every single time. That should be on my gravestone. Like, imperfect action actually makes things happen. Right now, someone with a worse idea than yours, with less experience than you, with fewer resources than you, have just launched a. While you were editing, while you were thinking, they're out there earning. Okay. And so here's what happens when you start to recognize all of these things. That maybe the people holding you back aren't strangers. They're your inner circle. That your customers don't want perfect. They want solutions. That hiding your learning process is robbing others of hope and robbing you of results. And that waiting for perfect is just fear dressed up in a business suit. Here's what happens when you believe them. You stop asking, is this good enough? And you start asking, will this help somebody? You stop editing your Instagram captions for 30 minutes, and you start posting them in three. You stop planning your dream business, and you start building it. Because the hard truth is this. The version of you that is waiting for perfect is never going to feel ready. She's never going to feel ready. But the version of you that chooses progress over perfection, she's already changing lives. So now that we've shifted our beliefs, here's where we get really tactical. Okay, so how do we actually escape the perfectionism trap and start taking consistent action? So I'm kind of calling this our escape route. And this is essentially taking us from paralysis into action. Okay, here is something that I've learned about myself. And I have watched so many successful entrepreneurs. And so this isn't just for me. This is for, like, every successful entrepreneur I know. We are probably the least perfect people. Like, we are not naturally perfect people. We are people who hit deadlines. We're people who follow through. We are people who commit to doing the reps. We are people who commit to consistency. And once you start to get into a rhythm and you adopt the identity of being somebody who simply shows up, up, it becomes a lot easier to do it. Like, you stop being someone who thinks about doing things, and you start being someone who does the thing. And the shift happens when you realize that your reputation, it's not meant to be built on perfection. It is Built on reliability. Okay? People trust you because you show up, not because everything you create is flawless. Like, I have had a slogan, at least in my head sometimes in my Instagram bio of, like, imperfectly leading women. Like, that is all I can commit to. I have made so many mistakes. I have made public mistakes. I've made private mistakes. I have messed up so many times. I have typos. I have hit send and forgot to link the email. I mean, there are a million ways. I am one of the most imperfect leaders out there. But guess what? I am reliable. I show up on this podcast. I show up when I say I will. I've blogged every single week since I launched my business over 15 years ago. Right? I am reliable. Like, you can trust on me to show up. And so the steps that we have to start taking in order to shift from paralysis into action starts with it. So step one, we have to shift the question. Okay, I know I'm talking about a lot of mindset stuff, but truly, if we do not change the internal dialogue, we will not progress. The quality of your questions determines the quality of your outcomes. So we need better questions. That's really what it is. We need to ask ourselves better questions. So instead of asking yourself, is this perfect? Ask, is this actually helpful? Is this helpful for somebody? Instead of asking, what will they think? Ask, who will this help? Instead of saying, am I ready? Ask yourself, am I willing, like, set good enough standards by defining what, like, 70% looks like? Okay, we're not aiming for 100% here. Like, 70%, that's, like, a solid C, right? C plus. I'll take it. I'm literally telling you, you can lower the bar here. Like, that should be a relief. Like, what if instead of trying to, like, have a perfect podcast with perfect audio and five perfect takeaways, you just release an episode that delivers one solid takeaway that somebody can put into action. Aim to have an Instagram post that starts a conversation versus having one with perfect graphics. Instead of thinking, okay, I'm gonna create a perfect course that covers everything but helps nobody, ask yourself, could I create something that solves one problem? One problem? Really? Well, the goal isn't necessarily to lower your standards. Yeah, I'm gonna joke that we probably should, but it's to get clear on, like, what actually matters here. Truly, like, what is the point? I asked myself this question all of the time. There was a time where I was with my girlfriends, and all I could keep saying is, what is the point of this? What is the point if we cannot get super crystal clear on what the point is. We're missing it, Right? Okay, step two is that you have to create forcing functions. Like, I want us to make procrastination impossible. How do we do that? Through systems. Systems that push you into action whether you feel ready or not. Because, again, we're probably never going to feel ready. So here are some ways that I do this. And keep in mind, I am neurodivergent. I have adhd. So what works for me might not work for you, but these are three things that work really well that make it nearly impossible for me to procrastinate. So first is time boxing. So this is like giving yourself basically artificial constraints. So what do we say? Like, I'm gonna sit down and I'm gonna give this project 90 minutes, and then I'm hitting publish. Or this email gets 15 minutes of editing maximum. Or I'm just gonna write the first draft and put it out there and get feedback, period. Right. When you create these constraints, like, I literally have these cute little timers. I have one that's like a hourglass with sand in it. I also have, like, a cute, colorful timer that my kids always steal from me. But oftentimes, if I'm procrastinating on something, I will set a timer and I'll be like, all right, 20 minutes. Just do what you can for 20 minutes. Even, like, workouts. If I don't feel like working out, I'm like, go work out for five minutes. And if you want to quit after five minutes, fine. But a lot of times we just need to get the momentum, and we just need to commit that, like, when this timer goes off, this thing is done. We're stepping away. We're hitting publish. We're putting it out there. You know, I only share stuff I'm genuinely obsessed with. And so when I kept seeing bowling branch sheets, sheets all over Instagram, I was like, okay, are these actually worth the hype? Drew and I have been using their sheets and duvets for over a year now, and honestly, our bedroom feels like a completely different space. The moment you touch these sheets, you'll get it. They're incredibly soft to start, but they literally get softer every time you wash them. They're made from 100 organic cotton, so they're super durable and they're breathable, which is perfect for piling on cozy layers without turning into a furnace at 2am this is hands down the best bedding I've slept on. And I'm so genuinely excited for you to try it. Start building your sanctuary of comfort this fall with bowl and Branch. For a limited time, get 20 off your first set of sheets plus free shipping at bowlandbranch.com Gold Digger that's Bowl and Branch B O l l a n-d branch.com gold digger to save 20% and unlock free shipping exclusions apply. One of our favorite ways of earning extra income as a couple has been by hosting our spaces on Airbnb. Drew and I have always loved finding creative ways to make our spaces work for us, but let's be real. Between being parents, running a business and juggling travel, we don't always have the time to manage all the little details. On top of that, we live in Minnesota and our properties are in a different state. So handling the day to day just, just isn't possible for us as hosts. That's why I think Airbnb's co host network is such a smart option. With the co host network you can hire a high quality local co host to take care of your home and your guests. They handle all the day to day management from guest communication to on the ground support, so the stay runs smoothly even when you're away for work or traveling. Think of them as your local hosting superhero who knows the ins and the outs of creating amazing guests and experiences. If you've ever thought about hosting but it seemed a bit overwhelming, now it is easier than ever. Find a co host@airbnb.com host the second thing that helps make procrastination impossible for me is public accountability. Oh, I am the queen of this. It makes backing out way harder than just showing up. I am the girl who literally went on the Internet and said I'm going to start a podcast in 30 days. What should I call it? And guess what was born out of that? This podcast. The Gold Digger podcast. Literally. The day I had the idea, I posted online when I signed up for a marathon years ago. Posted it online when I bought a camera and wanted to become a photographer. Posted it online pre announce launch dates on social media. Even if nobody pays attention to that post. Put it out there. Hold yourself accountable. Text three people in your circle a deadline and ask them to check in on you. Like literally say can you put a Google Calendar alert to follow up with me on it? Maybe make a rule like every Tuesday I'm going to publish and pick a day a week where something will always go live. Like whatever that looks like. Put some public accountability behind it. I promise you when you make those public declarations, it holds you accountable on a whole new level. Like, for me, I have not had alcohol in over three years and I started sharing about that journey and it's so funny because the other day I'd posted a photo from our anniversary and I had gotten in non alcoholic wine, but I was drinking it out of a wine glass for our anniversary and people were like, wait, are you drinking? And it's like, interesting. Like that extra accountability, it makes it so much more impactful and easier for you to show up. So make backing out harder than showing up by putting your stuff out on the streets for real. And then the last thing is, is put some financial stakes in it. Like put some money on the line. Those who pay pay attention. Maybe you pre sell your offer before you create it so that other people have skin in the game and you've got to deliver. Or maybe you book the venue before you plan the event. Maybe you buy the domain name and tell people about it. Like, put some skin in the game. Invest in yourself. Start to see that you're not the risk, you're the investment. Your dreams are worth it. The key is making it more uncomfortable for you to quit than for you to continue. Okay, I think if you just take these three things. Timeboxing, public accountability, and financial stakes. Ooh, your perfectionism is shaking in its boots. Step three is to build your launch and learn rhythm. Like, I want for you to become a person who is addicted to feedback. This is where the magic happens. I feel like this is a theme we've been talking about a lot on this podcast lately. But I want for you to get so addicted to real world feedback instead of your own internal perfectionistic dialogue. Like, I want for you to hear from the people you are creating for. We have this Slack channel and it's just like kind words and testimonials and every single day there are messages and posts and DMS and emails that we're dropping in there. And yesterday on our team call, one of my team members was like, it is just so fun to read those. Like, it is so fun to hear from the people that we create for it changes the energy. And so like, what would it look like if you just commit to putting things out there and seeing like, okay, how many people engage versus how perfect did it look? Or what questions are people asking me? Versus, like, oh, dang it, what did I forget to include on that? Or thinking through, like, what did I share that other people wanted to share too? Versus, like looking at it again and being like, oh, I wish I would have said that differently. Right? Like, how can you start to pay attention to what your people are telling you, even if it's like two people. Okay, so I have this thing. It's a 48 hour rule. Once something is live and out there, you cannot edit it for 48 hours. This is super uncomfortable for a lot of people. This forces you to basically see that most of your perfectionism anxiety disappears once people actually respond to what you've put out there. And guess what? Most of the time, people respond positively. Because here's what happens. Action creates proof and perfection delays it. And so every time you publish something imperfect and the world doesn't end, you build evidence. You build up this case filled with evidence that your perfectionism was protecting you from literally nothing all along. And here's what I need you to hear. There is a compounding effect of consistency. When you do something consistently, you become known as someone who shows up. Like your audience starts to trust that you're going to deliver. They start to anticipate what you are publishing. Your confidence builds because you have real data instead of imaginary fears. And most importantly, you start identifying as someone who takes action instead of just being someone who sits there and thinks about taking action. The woman who posts something imperfect every single week will always outpace the woman who ships something perfect every month. Because the first person is learning in real time. They're iterating. She's building momentum, while the second one is sitting there holding back her creations and polishing them to put perfection. Which, guess what, Perfection doesn't even exist. It's a myth. Okay, so here is the last thing that I want for you to consider. I'm calling this your new operating system. There has to be an identity shift. Here's what I want for you to understand. Everything I've talked about today only works if you decide to become a different person. Easy, right? Oh, come on, Jenna. That's so easy. No, not a perfect person. A decisive person. I want you to be someone who makes decisions quickly and who is willing to just adjust as you go instead of trying to make perfect decisions slowly. Okay? I want for you to make decisions quickly and adjust as you go, instead of trying to make perfect decisions slowly. The most successful women I know aren't the smartest. They're not the most talented. They are the ones who decided they were the kind of person who follows through. They chose their identity first and then their actions followed. From now on, every decision you make, every decision you make, it needs to get filtered through one question. Does this move me forward or does it keep me stuck? That's it. Not is this perfect. Not what will people think? Just forward or stuck? Ask yourself that. Posting the imperfect caption forward. Spending another hour editing it. Stuck. Launching your course with typos forward. Waiting until next month to fix the typos first. Stuck. And when you start to just run everything through this filter, like literally just imagine a water filter with water running through it. You start to see that so so many of your beliefs were just simply keeping you stuck. And so here's what I want. For you to commit to make one commitment to yourself for the next 30 days. You're gonna prioritize speed over perfection in everything you do. You're just going to get into action. Start it with the 48 hour challenge. Push something out there, don't take it down, don't edit it, don't second guess it. Just get it out there. And I'm not telling you like go out and do sloppy work. It just means doing good work quickly instead of perfect work slowly. It means choosing the 80% solution today over the 100% solution. Maybe someday. Okay? And so say this out loud. I am someone who is okay with imperfect action. I am someone who is okay with imperfect action. Not I am someone who creates perfect things or I am someone with great ideas. You are someone who puts himself out there. Someone who gets things from inside of your head out into the world where they can actually help people. So stop listening and start doing right now. Identify one thing, just one thing that you have been sitting on. Maybe it's that post or that email or that course outline, that business idea. Set a 48 hour deadline to get a piece of it out into the world. It doesn't have to be the whole thing. It can literally just be a breadcrumb letting people into the process. Text one person your deadline or heck, if you're bold like I am, just make it a public proclamation. Make it real. Because here's what I know. In 48 hours, you'll either have proof that your idea might work or data on how you can make it better. Either way, you're gonna be further ahead than you are sitting here right now or overthinking it. Because I am absolutely convinced that the world does not need another perfect thing. It needs your contribution and it needs it now. Your dreams, they do not need permission to exist, but they need your action in order to breathe. So here's what you have to do. Stop asking if you're ready. Start asking yourself, am I willing? Am I willing to show up? Am I willing to make a fool of myself? Am I willing to be successful? Am I willing to put something out there even if it's not fully formed? The person you are meant to be is waiting on the other side of your first imperfect step. Your dream. It I promise you, it does not need perfect polish. It needs proof. And the more action you take, the more real your dream becomes. Perfectionism does not protect you. It paralyzes you and your audience. Your future customers, your family. They don't need you to be perfect. They need you to be present. They need you to be brave. They need you to be moving. So take that imperfect step today. Let that action create the proof you've been waiting for. The world needs more people in imperfect action. And that starts with you. I hope you loved today's episode. I hope you walk away with something you can put into action. I hope you can overcome analysis, paralysis, and all of the ways that your perfectionism is costing you. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the podcast. If you know someone who could benefit from it, please pass it along. It means the world to me. And until next time, Gold Diggers Keep on digging your biggest goals thanks for listening to the Gold Digger podcast. I hope today left you inspired and equipped with something you can put into action as you build a business that truly supports your life. If this episode resonated with you, here's how you can help the show reach reach even more entrepreneurs. Hit follow. Share it with a friend who's building something meaningful. And if you're feeling generous, leave us a review. Those reviews help other listeners discover these conversations when they need them the most. This show has become so much more than I ever imagined, and it's because of listeners like you who show up and share you are helping build something that will inspire entrepreneurs for years to come. For show notes, links and resources, head to gold diggerpodcast.com keep digging your biggest goals. The world needs what you're building.