1097 – Don’t Wait For Perfection: Tom talks Good Is Good Enough

SUMMARY BY CHATGPT

Summary: “Good Is Good Enough” (Episode 1097)
This episode focuses on the dangers of perfectionism, especially in entrepreneurship and product creation.
Core Message
• Perfectionism is harmful—it often comes from fear (fear of failure, inadequacy).
• It leads to inaction, preventing people from launching products or making progress.
• Instead, “good is good enough to start.” You can improve over time.
Why People Become Perfectionists
Common causes include:
• Conditional approval (only praised for success, not effort)
• Highly critical environments
• Chaotic or abusive upbringing (trying to stay “perfect” to avoid harm)
• Parentification (taking on adult responsibilities too early)
• Pressure from being labeled “gifted”
Why Perfectionism Is Dangerous
• Called a “dream killer”
• Leads to feelings of inadequacy, not excellence
• Can reduce happiness and productivity
Strategies to Overcome Perfectionism
• 70% Rule: Aim for progress, not perfection
• Deliberate imperfection: Make small mistakes intentionally to reduce fear
• Timeboxing: Set strict deadlines and stop when time is up
• Start & finish mindset: Complete tasks fully, then improve later
Practical Advice for Entrepreneurs
• Launch products when they’re good enough, not perfect
• Use feedback to improve
• Digital products make updates easy
• Reward customers by giving them improved versions
Key Takeaway
Start now with something good—perfection can come later through iteration.

===

Episode 1097 – Good Is Good Enough
[00:00:08] Welcome to Screw the Commute. The entrepreneurial podcast dedicated to getting you out of the car and into the money, with your host, lifelong entrepreneur and multimillionaire, Tom Antion.
[00:00:24] Hey everybody, it's Tom here with episode 1097 of Screw the Commute podcast. We're pushing towards 1100 episodes here. We actually have more than 1100 because of some of the youth episodes we've done. But anyway, today is good. Is good enough or is it? We'll find out. Hope you didn't miss episode 1096. That was how simple offers beat complicated funnels very often, so check that one out. Anytime you want to get to a back episode, you go to episode number. Simple offers was 1096. All right, pick up a copy of our automation book at screwthecommute.com/automatefree. The free version 3.0 is the latest. And check out my mentor program at greatInternetMarketingtraining.com. And my school at IMTCVA.org certified to operate by SCHEV.
[00:01:19] Okay, let's talk about good is good enough. What we're talking about actually is the problem of perfection. People want things to be perfect. And specifically we'll talk about products here. But in your in general, in your life trying to be perfect. Oh boy. It's got a lot of problems with it. And I'm going to have some potential solutions for you if you're in this mechanism. And we're going to see some reasons why it may, why it may have happened. But perfection is is one of the causes is that it's fear based. You're fearful of not being good enough inadequacy or. And it causes inaction. You don't move because it has to be perfect, and you don't put a product out because it has to be perfect.
[00:02:15] And it's kind of some people say it's a form of self-abuse. And some other people I've read about said it's the enemy of happiness. Wow. Another person said it was. These are quotes from people that I never heard of. I tell you the truth, but it's internalized oppression. Wow. The worst one that I saw was two words. It's a dream killer. Being perfect is a dream killer. Maria Shriver, I think that was one of the Kennedy clan said it doesn't make you feel, you know, perfection doesn't make you feel perfect. It makes you feel inadequate. Now, let me be clear here. I'm not advocating for you to put out slop or just turn out to be a slug and do worthless work. That's poor quality. No, I'm just saying good is good enough to start. That's the key term here, to start. Then you keep improving and that's fine. And you're helping more people. And but you know, here's the thing. How do people get this way in the first place? Maybe you'll relate to some of these. Maybe it'll hurt to relate to some of these. One thing is, as you grew up, maybe you had what we call conditional approval. That means you were only praised when you succeeded.
[00:03:48] You weren't praised for trying. You were only praised if what you did worked. Another opposite of that is you're in a highly critical environment. Like, no matter what you do, you're getting criticized for it. Other things are chaotic and unpredictable. Homes. In other words, there's abuse, mental health problems and and you try to be Mr. or Miss, little boy or little girl. Perfect to stay under the radar so you don't have to suffer that abuse. Terrible situation to be in. Another one you might not have thought of is parentification, they call it, where a child has to be the parent to younger siblings, and they kind of feel like I can't make any mistakes. I'm taking care of my little brother or little sister, or both, or a whole family. Or you might be taking care of your mother that's an alcoholic or your dad or, you know, who knows? Even some people that are put in gifted classes, they feel like, uh, oh, I've got to live up to this or, you know, I'm going to shame everybody, you know. So those are some of the, the, the things of how people got this way that they feel they have to be perfect. So some strategies to overcome this. And I'm not saying it's going to be easy. Uh, you know, I can't imagine what it was like.
[00:05:13] I didn't have these, these things going on with me when I was a child. But some people promote the 70 over 30 rule, so instead of aiming for 100% perfection, you go for 70% excellence and then try to keep improving things. Another kind of strange strategy that has worked for people is they deliberately do something imperfectly in a low stakes setting, so it's not something super critical. Maybe you allow yourself to make a minor typo in an email or something, all right. And you find out that the world doesn't come to an end, you know? So and this is a over time, it's not like you're going to fix this overnight, like magic get hypnotized and somebody snaps their fingers. Another strategy is called time boxing, where you set a strict time for doing certain things. And when the time runs out, that's it. That's the final, the product you're going to put out or the, the task you're going to do, whether it's perfect or not. And then another one is called starting and finishing. You're just going to sit down and finish something. Doesn't matter if you get hungry or you. You got to go to the bathroom. Hey, listen, I got to finish this. And then, of course, in your mind, you know that you can improve it later. And that's the way I've put stuff out.
[00:06:46] I mean, you know, I do take the extra effort to make things way better than my competitors, but still, nothing is perfect. And every product I've ever put out, I'll see something. Oh, man, I wish I'd have done that. And then I added, especially since the digital world now it's easy to go ahead and make things better and better and better. I mean, even with print on demand books, it's kind of a hassle, but, uh, to reformat a book and put it back out for print on demand. But for all digital stuff, it's really easy. And so you can just put it out there, let it help people with the information you're putting out. And um, let er rip and then if you see something you get feedback on it, then you make it better. And anybody that's bought it already, if you really want to be a great vendor, you say here I'm going to give you the updated version. All right. So you don't have to sell them the updated version if that makes you feel bad. So good is good enough to start. That's what I want you to take away with this. All right, check out my school at IMTCVA.org. It's the only licensed dedicated internet and digital marketing school in the country, probably the world, and is certified to operate by SCHEV. The State Council on Higher Education in Virginia. But you don't have to be in Virginia because its quality distance learning, and it'll save you a couple hundred thousand dollars going to a four year indoctrination camp. They call colleges and universities, and you'll have a highly in-demand skill in as little as six months. And we've actually had people making money long before they graduated, so check it out at IMTCVA.org and if you're in my mentor program at GreatInternetMarketingTraining com, you get a scholarship to the school, which you can either gift to somebody or use it yourself for extra training. And I got to tell you, it's one of the best gifts you could ever give a person. Because it's like I said, it gives them a skill and that's what companies want nowadays. People with skills, not degrees. In fact, a lot of major companies, Google and IBM and a whole bunch of others don't require a college degree anymore. They want people that can actually do stuff. All right, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. And we will catch you on the next episode. And guess what? The next episode ain't going to be perfect. Like none of my, uh, a thousand other ones, right? They're not perfect, but hopefully they help you. All right. Catch you later.