Why "Failing" At Perfection Was The Best Thing I Ever Did

Here’s a truth bomb I wish I had internalized earlier:

Progress is built on imperfect action.

I’ll admit, there’s something seductive about perfection. It feels safe, right? You want things to be just right before you launch.

But here's the secret I wish someone had told me: You’ll never get there if you keep waiting for the perfect moment.

Instead, you have to embrace the small wins…

The imperfect actions that get you closer to your goal, even if they’re not perfect.

Today in 5 minutes or less:

✔️ Showing up = winning

✔️ The Delegation Trap

✔️ Breaking the cycle

✔️ [FREE] The Fitness AI I use to track macros

SHOWING UP = WINNING

I used to obsess over perfection. This wasn’t just in business. It was in my personal life, too.

I’ve got kids. And getting them out the door for a trip to the park feels like preparing for a military operation.

I’m not just talking about packing snacks (which always takes longer than you think).

I’m talking about the entire production—getting them dressed, getting them in the car, wrangling the stroller, making sure no one forgets their shoes… the list goes on.

It’s a miracle we ever make it to the park at all.

And then, when we finally do, we’re often running on borrowed time.

Maybe we only have 15 minutes before we have to head back for dinner, bedtime, or a million other things on the to-do list.

And yet, those 15 minutes? They matter. They’re still a win.

I could easily talk myself out of going because it's not the two-hour park adventure I imagined in my head.

But you know what? That’s the point. Fifteen minutes is enough.

Here’s where the mindset shift happened: I started to appreciate that 15 minutes is still time spent with my kids.

The quick visits, the small moments of play, are just as important. They’re still time spent being present. It might not be perfect, but it adds up over time.

I see the same thing happening in business, and I’m sure you’ve felt this way too.

It’s easy to look at the big picture and get discouraged. We’re always chasing the “perfect” end goal. But if you only measure success by that perfect result, you might miss all the small wins that lead to it.

It’s tempting to abandon progress altogether when we fall short of perfection. But here’s the key: progress is still progress, no matter how small it feels.

Whether it’s a 15-minute park visit, a 10-minute workout, or a 10-minute conversation with a client, those small moments still count. Don’t underestimate them.

THE DELEGATION TRAP

You’ve probably experienced this: The moment you delegate work to someone else.

You think, “Finally! I’m free from this task!” But what happens next?

You start to micromanage. You tweak. You edit. You give suggestions.

And before you know it, you’re back in the weeds. 🙃 

This is a trap I fell into hard—especially when I first started building a team. It felt like the only way things would get done right was if I was involved every step of the way.

I’d jump in with feedback, sometimes even going so far as to redo the work to make sure it aligned perfectly with my vision.

And guess what happened?

I was exhausted, and the team was frustrated. My margin shrank. I wasn’t freeing up my time. I was just moving the bottleneck from my plate to theirs.

But here’s the epiphany: When someone else can do the task (even if it's not exactly how I would have done it) it’s still a win.

That’s a huge shift in mindset. Perfection is not the goal… getting things done is. And guess what?

Progress over perfection always wins.

BREAKING THE CYCLE (FINALLY)

You’ve probably heard people say, "Done is better than perfect."

Every time you take imperfect action, you create momentum.

You’re no longer stuck in the loop of tweaking and waiting. You’re building towards something that’s real, not just an idea.

You’re FINALLY breaking out of this dreaded cycle…

I’ll be honest. Most days, I don’t check everything off my to-do list.

But I don’t give up. I say, “I’ll move forward with what I have.”

This is what really moves the needle. If you wait for everything to be perfect, you’ll miss the opportunity to improve over time. The more you do, the more you learn—and the more momentum you gain.

Next time you feel stuck, remember this: The win isn’t in perfection. It’s in progress.

You won’t scale if you’re stuck in perfection. 🙅 Start thinking in terms of “good enough” and let that be your momentum to get started.

What small win can you celebrate today?

And if you’re stuck on something, let it go and take the first step.

To profiting more and working less. 💸 

-Matt

👇️ COOL FREE THING

I recently shared how I’ve dropped 30 pounds, built muscle, and stayed consistent despite the imperfect journey.

Once again: all about imperfect action.

One of the tools I mentioned was using ChatGPT to track my meals and estimate macros. It learns about your body and diet, remembering everything for you (no more manual tracking!!)

Many of you wrote in asking how I use it, so here’s the deal: I’ve created a quick training to show you exactly how I use this tool + giving you FREE access to the fitness bot.

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