Minute With Mallon: Done Beats Perfect!

Aug 26

Welcome to Minute with Mallon!

Something I Taught:

Have you ever been stuck trying to make something perfect—only to realize you never actually finished it?

Aiming for perfection can feel noble… but it’s often just procrastination in a nicer outfit.

Recently one of my clients had an employee pass away from a work-related accident. I found out the night before our next morning meeting but was told by my assistant Rebecca that my client would most likely have to reschedule our meeting as he had to travel to the city where the accident happened.

Totally understandable.

The next morning, Rebecca let me know that he wanted to go ahead and have the meeting to help him process what had happened and to discuss what to do as the leader of the company. The man who had passed away was a long-time employee and my client and the whole company were obviously experiencing some very strong emotions.

I sat down with my laptop and began typing out questions and thoughts we could discuss and then I put them in a logical order. After a short time, I had some ideas I could suggest about what he should do over the upcoming days and also how to go about processing what had happened for himself and with his team.

Quite frankly, I was praying and asking God to give me wisdom, as I definitely needed it to help my friend.

We had an hour together. By the end of our call I knew that the small amount of preparation I had was more than enough.

I could have fretted and stressed that my thoughts that day wouldn't be enough. With the short notice, I didn't have time to deep dive into my thoughts and make a detailed plan. But I was sure that I was at least 80% there. And that turned out to be exactly what he needed. Which brings me to this thought:

Perfectionism can get in the way of our delivering.

Recently I read this in the book, “Who Not How,”

"The faster you get at throwing out incomplete work, the faster it will transform into something great. The author calls this the 80 percent rule. You can get to 80 percent of a project very quickly, such as writing a rough draft. However, going from 80 percent to 90 percent is exponentially more work than going from 0 to 80 percent. Going from 90 to 100 percent is a mountain. You just need to do what you can do."

Or as Dan Sullivan once said, “Eighty percent is already getting results while a hundred percent is still thinking about it.”

So here's my question for you:

“Are you ready to stop aiming for 100% and start making progress?”

Let’s talk. If you’re feeling stuck or unsure about what’s “enough” to move forward in your career, business, or leadership, reach out and let’s have a conversation.

Just reply to this email, and we'll set a quick 20-minute discovery call.

Something to Ponder:

80% done by someone else is 100% freaking awesome.

Dan Martell

Something I Learned:

And speaking of Dan, I'm reading a really good book by him called, "Buy Back Your Time." If you’re a leader or business owner, I'd highly recommend you read it!

If I was to summarize the book in one sentence, I’d say it’s a map to freeing yourself from low-value tasks by systemizing, automating, and delegating so you can focus on the high-impact work—and life—that only you can do.

A few thoughts from the book:

The little-known secret to reaching the next stage of your business is spending your time on only the tasks that: (a) you excel at, (b) you truly enjoy, and (c) add the highest value (usually in the form of revenue) to your business.

You can always get more money, but you can never get more time. So you need to ensure the stuff you spend your time on makes the biggest impact.

Just look around and audit how you’re spending your time. Likely you’ll find dozens of tasks someone else could do. Transfer those tasks to them. Then fill your time with something that gives you energy and makes you more money, beginning an infinite loop upward where the more money you make, the more you can buy back your time.

Here are three great examples from my life:

● My wonderful assistant Rebecca has been helping me grow this business for 9 years! She allows me to do what I do best every day. Could not have done it without her!!!

● We've been using a wonderful landscape company for 13 years (New Leaf Landscape - highly, highly recommend them!).

● Home cleaners two times a month (sweet Aurelia and her team!)