You know what's interesting? In behavioral psychology, researchers have documented something called the all-or-nothing effect. And this is the reason why someone who is dieting takes a bite out of a cookie and they suddenly decide that since they already took that one bite, they might as well eat the whole box because they've already ruined the moment. They made this one mistake, they missed a workout, they skipped their morning routine, or they might even delay the project. And somehow what happens is our brain convinces us that the entire week is amiss, it's lost. And that's not a discipline problem, it's a thinking problem. And here is what a lot of people don't understand that same glitch, it doesn't just show up around food, right? It shows up in your business, it shows up in your leadership, in your finances, in your dreams. You miss one day and suddenly you're ready to quit the entire vision. So today we are talking about the perfectionist, not the person who loves to do things in excellence. We're talking about the person who has a fragile system and it keeps them from making consistent progress. Because if one bad day can completely knock you off course, you don't have a high standard. You have a system that's too fragile to survive real life. I want to be real with you. There's nothing wrong with wanting excellence. I care about excellence. Everything I do, I try to do it with excellence. When I put my name on something, I want it done well. If I create a project or something for a client, I want it to be done in excellence. But somehow along the way, excellence got confused with perfection. And they are not the same thing. Perfection tells us if I can't do all of it, I won't do any of it. If I can't finish this today, I'll just wait for another day. If I miss one day, I'll start over on Monday. If I don't have enough time to do it the exactly the same way that I imagined to do it, I'm gonna leave it alone. That sounds like you're being responsible. And it also sounds like you're being disciplined. But here's the part that nobody's going to tell you. Perfectionism isn't protecting your quality, it's protecting your ego. Because if nobody ever sees your unfinished work, nobody can criticize it, nobody can reject it, and they really can't even tell you what needs improvement. So then the business stays in planning, the podcast stays in the drafts, the website stays under construction, the books wait for the right time. Your customers are searching for you to give them a solution, but they can't find you. You never lose because you never enter the game. And that is the most expensive part. And I've had one of these days a long time ago. My calendar looked absolutely ridiculous. When I say ridiculous, I mean it was all over the place. I had to do a go-to a meeting here, I had a client here, I had to do this for the kids. I had so many different things pulling me in different directions. And I remember looking at everything that I wanted to accomplish, and I'm thinking, oh my God, there is no way I'm getting all of this stuff done today. And for a moment, I felt that old temptation, that that same temptation that says, I'll just reset tomorrow. I'll just have more time later. I'll catch up this weekend, I'll do everything on this weekend. But then I caught myself because that is a track. I did not need to finish everything. I needed to move something forward, though. So instead of trying to conquer the entire mountain all at once, I opened one document, I made progress, I closed it. Then later on, I answered a few emails, I moved another project forward, I recorded a few notes for another idea. I made a couple phone calls. Did I finish everything? I wasn't close, but I protected something much more valuable, and that is momentum. And that's something that I teach all the time to my clients. Vision doesn't grow because you have one incredible day. Vision grows because you refuse to let ordinary days become your zero days. So here's what I want you to hear. The goal isn't perfect days, okay? The goal is no more zero days. Those days where you have a thousand things on the list, but because you cannot get through all of them, you don't do any of them. Every time you decide to restart next Monday, next month, next year, you are not delaying a test. You are delaying your future. And you're delaying the solution that someone needs that you have. You're teaching yourself that consistency is not dependable. You're teaching your brain that one mistake deserves total abandonment. And that is not what leadership looks like. That is fragility. Life isn't predictable. Kids get sick, meetings run long, cars break down, and unexpected bills happen all the time. And energy changes all the time. And if your system only works when life is perfect, then your system doesn't work at all. This is why I stopped chasing perfect routines. Instead, I what I started to do was build repeatable standards. I use this framework, and it's something that I want you to try this week. Stop creating one impossible standard for every day. I want you to create three. Your exceptional standard, your normal standard, and your minimum standard. Now, your exceptional standard is what happens when everything is lined up, right? Everything's in alignment. You got the energy, the schedule's clear, everything is clicking. Maybe that might look like recording a podcast or writing a social media content, answering some emails, or even planning your next episode. That is great, a great start. But that's not real life every single day. Okay, so your normal standard is what most days actually look like. This is the solid progress, consistent execution. Then there's your minimum standard. This one matters the most. This is what happens when the day completely falls apart. Maybe let's think about it like this. You're writing three ideas in your note, your notes, right? And maybe it's taking a 10-minute walk. Or maybe you're responding to one important client. This is the bare minimum to keep everything going. If you're reading one page instead of 30 pages, the purpose isn't to impress anybody, the purpose is to protect your momentum because momentum survives on repetition, not intensity. Oftentimes, I feel like a lot of people don't get anything done because they are looking to get everything done at the same time. Break it down, right? You know the saying they say you can't eat an elephant all at once. You have to eat it one bite at a time. Well, that is also true in your life, in your business, on your team. Take it one step at a time. Do a little bit each time and in every phase until it is completely done. Now I have a few things that will help you get started with this. Number one, stop measuring success by your best days. Anyone can perform when everything goes right. Leadership shows up on a regular Tuesday when nothing is exciting. It doesn't feel like an exciting day. So what do you do with this? Ask yourself today, did I move something forward today? Don't ask, did I finish everything? Number two, your system should survive bad days. If one interruption destroys your whole routine, the routine is not strong enough. I want you to choose one habit and create a minimum version that takes less than 15 minutes. Number three, progress beats perfection every single time. So if you're waiting for that perfect condition and you're still waiting on it, every delay is going to push your vision further away. So you need to launch the draft, you need to make the phone call, you need to send the email, record the first version of your podcast. You can improve what exists, but you cannot improve what you never started. Stop restarting your life. This is the biggest one of them all. I should have made this number one, but it's number four. This one thing is what keeps a lot of people in the same cycle. You're giving yourself permission to quit when you keep restarting. And that is not discipline, that is avoidance wearing a very professional outfit. If you've fallen off, don't keep restarting. Just resume right where you are. Now, when I'm recording this podcast, oftentimes I might just be talking and I might get lost in thought, I might be distracted. Something may take place where I feel like, oh goodness, I need to stop this podcast and re-record it. No, I just keep going. And if there is a situation where something didn't come out right or I had to, I said the wrong word, then it's simple. I can go back and fix that. Most times I'll just keep it running because listen, I don't have it takes a long time for this to be edited. I don't really have all that time to go through that. But I wanted to use that example to let you know that you don't have to keep stopping and restarting. Just keep going. And then you can fix the small things that may arise at another given time. Lastly, protect momentum. Protect it more than you protect motivation. Motivation, it comes and goes. You know how you're sitting and you're listening to uh these um motivational speakers and you're feeling like, oh yeah, rah-rah, rah. I feel good, I feel on fire. And then you leave, and then the next week you're like, oh my God, like I feel terrible. I'm not getting anywhere. Motivation is going to come and go, but your momentum is starts to compound. You just have to be consistent. So before you go to bed, you just want to ask yourself, what is the smallest action that I can take tomorrow? What is going to keep me moving? And do that first. So what I do before I go to bed is I like to write a list of things so that one, I'm not dreaming about doing them, but I like to write a list of things that I need to do that's going to move the needle towards my completion of whatever the project is or whatever the service that I'm offering, whatever it is. Write it down. And then when you wake up in the morning, you'll be able to pick and choose which one you need to do first. Before we close out, if something in this episode hit a little close to home, if you are realizing that the all-or-nothing pattern isn't just about productivity, it's showing up your identity, your vision, your mindset, your money, and how you communicate. I want to give you a way to actually see it. I built something called the Mid-Hour Chat Reset Assessment. It's not a personality quiz, it's an honest, seven-minute look at exactly where the breakdown is happening right now in your life, in your business, on your team, and what to do about it. You will get the biggest priority and a clear next step. Take it down. You can go to reset.gothusa.com. The link is in the description.