Done Is Better Than Perfect: Why Perfectionism Is Keeping You Stuck

Perfectionism tells you that waiting makes things better. That if you just hold on a little longer, you'll feel more ready, more qualified, more confident.

But that day never comes. Because perfectionism moves the finish line every single time.

You finish the logo. Now the copy isn't right. You fix the copy. Now the visuals don't match. You fix the visuals. Now you're not sure about the price point. Six months pass. You haven't launched anything.

I lived this for years. I once spent an entire week trying to pick the perfect shade of pink for my brand. Was it millennial pink? Dusty rose? Blush? In the end, nobody cared what shade I chose. Except me. And I changed it six months later anyway.

All that time I could have spent creating, connecting, building. I spent it obsessing over a color.

When I recorded my very first episode of The Bold Biz Podcast, it was far from perfect.

The sound was uneven. My voice cracked in places. And I made the rookie mistake of recording the intro and the main episode in different rooms, so the audio didn't even match. I mean, who does that?

Old Jenny would have refused to release it. She would have insisted on re-recording, re-mixing, re-everything until it sounded "professional."

But the version of me who's done waiting for perfect decided to upload it exactly as it was. Because I wanted to model what I teach. I wanted to prove that you can improve as you go.

And that imperfect first episode gave me something no polished project ever did. Momentum.

It got me moving. It got me learning. It got me messages from listeners saying "I loved how real it felt." Because here's a secret I wish I'd understood a decade ago: people don't want perfect. They want real. They want to feel like you're talking to them, not performing for them.

Here's the part that hit me hardest when I finally saw it.

Chasing the next idea, polishing endlessly, "not feeling quite ready yet," these can all be ways to avoid judgment. If something is never finished, no one can critique it. If you never launch, no one can call it not good enough.

I was hiding behind "it's not ready yet" because I was scared. Scared of being judged. Scared of being criticized. Scared of putting myself out there and having someone say it wasn't great.

But here's the truth I had to swallow: they will judge you anyway.

People will always have opinions. There will always be someone who doesn't get what you're doing, doesn't like your style, or thinks you should do it differently. So why let imaginary critics run your timeline?

Your job is to show up, not to please everyone. Done is better than perfect because done builds confidence. Every time you publish, post, or release something imperfect, you strengthen the muscle that matters most. The courage to show up anyway.

And perfect isn't relatable. It feels unattainable and out of reach. But real? Messy? Human? That's what people actually connect with.

There's a Swedish word I absolutely love. Lagom.

It means "just right." Not too much, not too little. Simply enough.

Growing up Swedish, this concept was everywhere. You don't overdo things. You don't underdo things. You find the sweet spot in the middle. And in business? It has been a complete game-changer for me.

Because lagom reminds me that "good enough" isn't lazy or half-hearted. It's balanced. It's finishing the thing, publishing the post, sending the email, and trusting that it's good enough for now.

The more I embraced lagom, the more my energy could go toward creation instead of correction. And ironically? The more imperfectly I showed up, the more engagement and connection I got.

People would comment "thank you for being so real" and I'd be thinking, you have no idea how hard I'm fighting the perfectionist voice in my head.

Let's get really honest for a second. Perfectionism doesn't just cost you time. It costs you so much more than that.

Pick one thing you've been sitting on. Something you've been telling yourself you'll do "when it's ready."

Maybe it's the blog post you've been editing for three weeks. The reel you've re-recorded five times. The email you keep rewriting. The course outline you've been "perfecting" instead of launching. The website you keep tweaking instead of publishing.

Whatever it is, release it.

Even if it's messy. Even if it's not what you envisioned. Even if your hands are shaking when you hit publish.

Then celebrate that you did it. Don't obsess over the stats. Don't immediately start picking it apart. Just celebrate that you were brave enough to put it out there.

Because every imperfect action you take builds your confidence. And that compounds faster than perfection ever will.

If perfectionism is the wall you keep hitting, and you've started things before and stopped them because nothing ever felt "good enough," I made something specifically for you.

Done Starting Over is a free guide that helps you figure out exactly why you keep stopping and what to do differently this time so it actually sticks. No more start-and-stop cycle.

Grab it free right HERE.

You've got this. ✨

/Jenny xo