With all the work I do with entrepreneurs and business owners, I frequently encounter a phenomenon that I rarely see discussed. Often gurus will talk at great length about “imposter syndrome,” (largely because that gets them a baseline to sell coaching against). It has always struck me as a little pathetic and self-serving, like saying “Ooooh poor me, I do great things but don’t believe in myself enough. Can you praise me for them instead?” Grow up.
In my world, though, I see real CEOs struggling with a different and more insidious idea: that something is only worth doing if it can be completed perfectly. Nothing can be perfect, that’s the point of having the word and the concept … we need something to benchmark against that is so good it can’t be improved.
Attempting perfect is fine. Failing at perfect is fine. Beating yourself up because of missing perfect is stupid. Even Vince Lombardi said “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”
Try your best, but take time for gratitude for your best, too.
“Choose a boss, not a job.”
— Anna Wintour
I had a good time discussing A CEO Only Does Three Things with Julie and the team at Fuller Wallet Media! If you have a moment, give a listen, watch and read here.
Julie Houston is one of the most successful affiliate marketers of all time. She designs and manages affiliate network offers for brands large and small. Bring her a list and she can overclock your monetization in a way that maintains your brand integrity. She’s really amazing at the work.
She and I discussed the challenges CEOs have and what separates a Good CEO from a Great CEO.
"It seems, in fact, as though the second half of a person's life is made up of nothing but the habits they accumulated during the first half."
— Fyodr Dostoyevsky
“You’re on mute!” is the catchphrase of the times, now. We wonder how people can not know that they are muted and flapping their lips … until we do the same thing. It’s obviously a problem with Zoom … or Teams … or Google … or Skype (does anyone use that piece of trash?)
Well now we have a solution! It’s a mute button, highlighted in red so you know when you’re muted and when you aren’t!