The hidden cost of being perfect

A few months ago, I caught myself in a familiar trap. There I was, spending an hour tinkering with an email subject line. I’d analyzed variations, scrutinized analytics from previous newsletters, and obsessed over every word.

I finally looked at the clock and laughed.

Because I knew the truth — all that “optimizing” probably wouldn't move the needle more than 1%.

And I wasn't just wasting time. I was optimizing for the wrong thing entirely.

The Optimization Trap

We're told to A/B test everything. Track every metric. Optimize every funnel step. Split test every headline. Hell, I've preached most of this stuff myself at some point or another.

“If you're not optimizing, you're leaving money on the table!”

But here's something less talked about:

You've gotta leave something on the table.

And if it's not money, it’ll be your time, your sanity, your relationships, or your health. Something always gets left behind (especially when money is the target).

Every hour you spend tweaking your landing page is an hour you're not spending on something else. And every minute spent testing button colors is a minute you're not creating something new.

As I reflect on my career as an entrepreneur, I remember this mistake repeated over and over again.

A friend of mine spent six months "optimizing" his course sales page. And he ended up improving his conversion rate by 2%. That translated to an extra $10,000 during his latest launch, which sounds great.

But during those six months, he could have created three new products, written 24 newsletters, launched a coaching program, or done anything else that would have earned him 10x that same revenue. So the opportunity cost was massive.

And that’s the same trap I found myself falling into with that subject line.

When Good Enough Beats Perfect

Thinking about this led me to run an experiment during my current sabbatical in France. I decided to spend less time on social media and watch what would happen. Less time commenting, responding, scrolling Twitter, making connections, etc.

The result? My revenue dropped about 3%.

But I gained back about ten hours a week! And I spent those hours pondering a new business idea, letting my mind wander, and having lunch with my wife in the world’s best food city.

It’s been refreshing, to say the least. And I've sorted out a new business idea that might make up for that 3% loss. Plus, I’m feeling better — recharged and excited to work on an exciting new thing.

Now don’t get me wrong here. I'm not suggesting you shouldn't optimize anything. And I’m not telling you to drop everything and pretend like nothing matters. Of course that would be silly.

But I am suggesting that you focus your energy and optimization efforts on things that really matter:

• Your core product that serves your customers
• Your main page that drives 80% of your revenue
• Your onboarding sequence that sets client expectations

But most things?

You'd be better off getting them to "good enough" and launched, than "perfect" and in a perpetual holding pattern.

The 80/20 Decision Framework

Here's how I try to decide what deserves my optimization time. And this is a thinking structure you can use too.

When you find yourself tinkering endlessly with a small detail:

1. Consider the real impact of making the improvement. Not the theoretical impact — the actual impact, based on your revenue numbers.
2. Estimate the real cost — including opportunity cost, mental energy, and time away from other projects (like your friends and family).
3. Now ask yourself: Does the impact absolutely dwarf the cost?

Here are some real-world examples to show you what I mean:

Not Worth It: Spending 20 hours to improve an email sequence that makes $1,500/month by 10%. That's a $150 monthly improvement. (Not worth 20 hours of your time)

Consider Carefully: Spending 20 hours to improve a coaching program that generates $8,000/month by 15%. That's a $1,200 monthly improvement. (But could that time be used to create something new instead?)

Definitely Worth It: Spending 20 hours to improve a landing page that generates $80,000/month by 5%. That's a $4,000 monthly improvement. (Now we're talking.)

Of course, these numbers will vary among different people and scenarios. But at least you have a framework here to help you make better decisions.

The Freedom of Good Enough

The beautiful part about embracing "good enough" is that your time is freed up to focus on what actually matters:

• Building more (or other) things
• Taking more creative risks
• Opening up more head space for exciting projects

I’m slowly but surely realizing that "good enough" usually is good enough.

Because at the end of the day, your customers care more about the value you provide than whether your button color is the right shade of blue. (Yes, I’m talking to myself here.)

Your Challenge This Week:

I want you to look at your current to-do list.

Identify one thing you've been trying to make perfect that could be "good enough" as it is now, and ship it.

Then use your freed-up time to create something new or do something different. For example, taking a walk outside is a helluva lot better than looking at a computer screen for one more minute (and it really gets the creative juices flowing).

Because perfect isn't just the enemy of good. It's the enemy of growth.

And that’s all for today.

See you next Saturday.

P.S. In the spirit of getting started and shipping, I’ve recently updated my free 21-day email course: Your First $1 Online Challenge.

I'm showing new entrepreneurs how to get their first proof of concept — their very first $1 (and maybe even more) online.

‍Join us here if you’re interested in finally getting started on that business you’ve been putting off!