95% of Something is Better Than 100% of Nothing

I recently came to the realization that 95% of something is better than 100% of nothing.

What do I mean by this?

I mean that we often wait, or work to make something completely perfect rather than just almost perfect.

Making things completely perfect sounds good, but there’s a dark side to it.

If we only accept certain perfect parameters we often don’t take action as a result.

We might dread taking an action. We might avoid doing something.

Here’s an example I noticed in my life:

I realized that I hated mopping my kitchen floor.

As a result I would almost never do it. To get it to 100% clean would especially take a lot of time and effort.

What I realized was that I needed to change my system of mopping.

The first thing I did was to get a Swiffer Wet Mop Cleaning System

This meant that I would no longer need a bucket, dirty mop, bottle of cleaner and/or a lot of paper towels.

The system isn’t as cheap as just using a mop, bucket and cleaning solution, but it is easier therefore I would actually do it.

Since it’s more expensive it isn’t 100% perfect, but now the job gets done.

Also instead of scrubbing everything like crazy to get it 100% clean, I use 2 or 3 of the refill pads once a week and get it about 98% clean in a fraction of the time it would take to do the job perfectly.

Accepting a 95% solution made my floor 1000% cleaner without being a major chore.

In business people often wait before releasing a product or starting a venture until it is 100% perfect. What happens as a result though is that nothing gets done.

I learned a phrase at a Tai Lopez seminar called “MVP” or Minimum Viable Product.

The idea behind MVP is that instead of waiting to perfect a product, you release it as soon as you possibly can and then improve it along the way.

This might sound like a poor way to do business, but it gets you going. You also learn very quickly how to improve your product. You learn much faster than if you were waiting endlessly to make it theoretically better. You are forced to act quickly since it is then in the real world. Customer feedback also quickly provides you with valuable advice. Perhaps most importantly, you can start earning revenue.

There is no use to planning something or having a way of doing it that leads to inaction.

It’s always good to challenge yourself and to do a job well, but sometimes if you raise the bar too high it leads to discouragement.

A happy medium must be found where there is growth, improvement and efficiency, but without the added discouraging factors.

You might be a member of an excellent gym, but if it’s too far from your house you might not go to it.

In this case you’d be better off going to a somewhat inferior, but much closer gym.

There may be a job or business deal where you can make 5% more money, but it might be restrictive and lead to a lot of future headaches.

Money isn’t the only deciding factor in a deal/job opportunity.

A flight might cost $100 or $200 more, but it might also give you several more hours at your destination.

If you’re already spending a lot to take a trip, it can be worth the extra money for a flight that gives you an extra half of a day.

Often in life we make decisions based upon just one criterion above all others. We might always choose the cheapest, easiest, most available, most thorough or least time consuming option.

We might become ingrained to a certain way of thinking without seeing the bigger picture.

With my floor mopping example I was choosing my system based solely on price.

After realizing that my system was broken and that the floor wasn’t getting cleaned often enough I decided to change it.

The replacement system only costs about 20 cents more a week, but saves a ton of time and effort.

Opportunities like this exist in all areas of our life.

What things have you been putting off? Travel? Business? Fitness? Social Interaction?

Here’s the answers…

Take less expensive or shorter trips. Stay in cheaper hotels. Eat cheaper foods. Figure it out.
Start a smaller business than you were thinking. Maybe start selling things on eBay or post gigs on Fiverr.
Start a shorter workout plan. Do calisthenics at home. Go to the gym for 45 minutes instead of an hour per workout. Take a brisk walk daily.
Go out with friends once every week or two or even once a month to start. Anything is better than nothing.

Sometimes starting an imperfect plan leads to more perfect plans along the way.

Figure out what actually works for you.

Pick plans and systems that you’ll actually follow.

Your life will become more enjoyable and more interesting.

Until next time, Stay Interesting.

All the Best,