#7: The Secret to Fast Action-Taking: Get It Done First, Perfect It Later

Have you ever spent hours, days, weeks, even months perfecting something that’s either unimportant or you have no idea is even going to work for your market?

Think; website design, logo/branding, an online course or product, a video, even an article or newsletter.

The fact is, perfectionism is subjective and what you think is raw and rubbish, might be amazing to your consumer, and conversely, what you think is beautiful and polished may not resonate with your ideal audience.

The road to mastery is to take action and listen to feedback. Then tweak, take more action and listen to more feedback. The market will tell you what works and what doesn’t and I can guarantee, your fancy logo you took weeks to design will have nothing to do with your success.

Here are 5 steps to getting it done and perfecting it later;

1. Create an MVP

When first starting out, you have no idea if people will love or even want your product, so create an MVP (minimum viable product) and test the market first.

Why does this matter? It saves time, resources, and provides invaluable feedback.

Imagine investing time and money into developing a product, only to find there’s no market demand for it. 

Now, consider an alternative path where you create a basic version of your product and test it with real customers. This approach allows you to understand what the market needs, helping you make data-driven decisions and adapt your product accordingly.

As an example I’m doing that right now with my online course and my new Amazon product. Both products are MVP’s, built to get feedback so I can make improvements, add more value, get better testimonials and reviews, price accordingly and expand and grow.

NB: This works for everything, not just products. Think social media content, articles, videos etc. You’ll learn and improve as you go.

2. Be Willing to Be Bad at First

“By being willing to be a bad artist, you have a chance to be an artist, and perhaps, over time, a very good one.”

— Julia Cameron

Everyone is rubbish at the beginning. Even Mozart likely had some clangers early days (bearing in mind he was 5 when he started composing).

However he produced more than 800 works in his lifetime across all genres, resulting in some of his best and most well known pieces being written in the years preceding his death.

Practice makes perfect!

Why is this important? It eases the pressure to be perfect and encourages growth.

Think about starting as a writer or a podcaster. You might be worried about making mistakes and receiving criticism and therefore haven’t got off the starting blocks yet. 

But what if you wrote or recorded consistently, in spite of your initial skill levels and more importantly fears of judgement? Over time, you would vastly improve through practice and feedback. That’s the power of taking action and learning on the go. 

NB: I recorded a video a few years back on embracing invisibility, you can see it here.

3. Start in a Smaller Community

The trolling online has become crazy in the last few years and the fear of harsh judgement from anonymous cowards might be holding you back, particularly as you launch and refine your brand or message.

In this case, consider testing your ideas, content, products etc to a smaller and safer audience.

Why could this help? It offers a safe space to make mistakes and gather feedback.

Envision yourself launching an online course or ebook to a vast audience and receiving some vitriolic negative backlash which completely puts you off taking any further action. 

Or you could launch to a small trusted Facebook group. By starting with a smaller group, you’re able to get constructive feedback, make necessary improvements, and gain the confidence needed to share with the world. 

4. Remove the Fear of Publishing

Sam Parr is the creator of ‘The Hustle’ newsletter which sold for $25 – $30 million to Hubspot. He’s also the co-host of the extremely successful My First Million podcast and has 240k followers on Twitter. The guy is a content machine and yet…

On a recent podcast interview he spoke about his fear of publishing along with several other super successful content creators who also expressed their fear of hitting that ‘publish’ button.

You are not alone in being worried about what other people will think/say. (And it’s definitely not a female problem these days. Men have imposter syndrome too!)

So, to remove the fear of publishing, schedule.

Why does this matter? Consistency is key, and scheduling tools ensure regular output without stress.

Instead of trying to produce content daily, use scheduling tools to batch and automate your posts, videos, podcasts, articles etc. This approach enables consistency (vital to your success online), eases anxiety, and helps to manage your time efficiently. 

Other than that, as my dear old Mum would always say ‘just close your eyes and leap‘.

5. Focus on the Process, Not the Outcome

I talk a lot about outcomes. 

• Visualise your perfect day. 
• Create a clear plan for your business. 
• Even think about what outcome you want each day.

However, having a vision is merely for motivation. It’s the processes and daily habits that get you where you want to be. 

Why is this significant? It emphasises continuous improvement and not being fixated on immediate results.

Imagine you have a goal to grow your Instagram followers to 100k. To do that, you need to post daily, and tweak your content based on what resonates and increases followers.

Instead of focusing on the number of 100k and becoming quickly discouraged by how far you have to go, decide to commit to posting every single day for as long as it takes. 

Rather than obsessing over instant success, you instead pay attention to the content itself, taking pleasure in the act of creating. Over time your posting skills and following will grow exponentially. 

Your Challenge

What are you currently perfecting? How can you use one of these tips to stop and actually launch/take action this week?

Conditions aren’t always perfect!

As Nike says – Just Do It!

Have a great week making it happen.

Jo 🙂