Penelope:
I have never believed success belongs to the person with the perfect plan. I believe it belongs to the person who is willing to begin. In fact, perfectionism isn't really about perfection. It's often fear wearing a very respectful outfit.
People will say, "I'm just waiting until my website is finished," or "I need one more certification," or "I'll start the podcast when my office looks better," or "I'll launch when I have more followers," or "I'll apply when I have more experience." What they're really saying is, "I'm waiting until I can't fail." But you know what? That day never comes.
Hey, I'm Penelope Bent here, your host. Welcome to BUILD IT, BABY! If you have been waiting for everything to be perfect before you take the next step in life, career, or in building a business, stick around because in my experience, perfect never built anything.
This is BUILD IT, BABY!, the show for big ideas, brave pivots, and bold next chapters. So let's do it. Let's build it, baby.
And that may be true sometimes, maybe, but more often it's about trying to protect ourselves from criticism or embarrassment or rejection, looking inexperienced or making mistakes, or perhaps disappointing ourselves. Perfection becomes an armor. The problem? Armor also keeps us from moving.
I've never met a successful builder who waited until everything was perfect. I've met hundreds who started before they felt ready. How? They just learned, they adjusted, they failed, and then they rebuilt. But they moved. Builders don't wait for perfect, they build toward better.
People say, "I just want to put my best foot forward." Oh, I get that, absolutely. But your best today won't be your best six months from now. Imagine if we had waited until BUILD IT, BABY! was perfect. Well, hell, we'd still be chatting about this thing. You know, tossing ideas around. There would be no listeners around the world, no guests, no stories, no community. Perfection would have kept us from all that we have already shared and experienced.
And I know I've said this before in so many different ways. Progress always creates confidence. It may not create perfection, but confidence isn't born in planning. Confidence is born in doing. Every imperfect action teaches you something perfection never can.
And here's what life has taught me. Nothing important I've ever built began perfectly. I mean, Recruiter Mania, it wasn't perfect coming out of the gate. I mean, it's continually evolving, changing with the times. BUILD IT, BABY! wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination. My ideas aren't perfect, and I sure as hell am not perfect. But every time I moved before I felt completely ready, life met me there.
Think about that for a minute. Somehow, you know, life just met me where I was at that particular time, and not because I was perfect. I believe because I was willing.
Perfection isn't the finish line. It's often the gate we build that keeps ourselves from ever starting. The goal isn't to become fearless or flawless before you build. It's to build anyway. And the interesting thing about perfectionism is it usually has a deeper cause, or for many of us, it has many causes.
And here are a few suggestions when that perfection gate begins to lock you in. Tool number one, ask yourself, "What am I really waiting for?"
Now, most people say they're waiting for something practical, like money, more time, more experience, more confidence. But if they sit with the question long enough, they often discover they're really waiting for permission not to fail. And that realization changes everything.
Think about this for a moment. At least for me, I have no problem with the plan not working out perfectly. If that is considered failure to some, so be it. But to me, I'd rather, you know, quote, quote, quote, fail than know I never tried.
Now that is where failure comes in for me. What? You never tried? I mean, that makes me a crazy woman. Of course you need to try. I mean, how do you get from point A to point B if you don't, you know, go out there and throw some spaghetti on the wall?
Okay, now here's tool number two. Build the ugly first draft. This is one of my favorites. Give yourself permission to build something intentionally imperfect. Write the first proposal, record the first podcast, launch the simple website, sketch the business idea. You're building the final version. You're building version one. And version one's only job is to exist.
It was really interesting when I was very young, and my husband and I at the time had built—we bought our first business, and it was a gift store. And when we were working with that community, and we sold that store very successfully, but we decided to come back to that same community and open our photographic studio.
And this was about, I don't know, maybe five years later, after the first purchase of the gift store. And we got to know the people in the town, and so when we opened up the photography studio, I was about, I don't know, seven, eight months pregnant. So needless to say, the whole town knew this little baby was coming.
And I remember when our daughter Brandy was born, one of the gals that owned a framing company gave me the most beautiful, framed kind of a quote. And it said, "Please be patient with me. God isn't finished with me yet."
And you know, over the years I've really thought a lot about that, about the fact that when we start creating as individuals, when we start building, we're building something that maybe doesn't breathe like, you know, my daughter did or our daughter did, but it's alive. It's a business.
And I think that we need to understand, "Be patient with me," the business says. You know, the universe isn't done with me yet. I think that's such an important piece.
So build that ugly first draft, record the first podcast, like I mentioned, or launch the simple website, sketch the business idea. You're building that final version. That you need to be patient with that final version. It will come.
And tool number three, the 80% rule. Ask, "If this is 80% of what I ultimately envision, would it still help someone?" If the answer is yes, then for God's sake, launch. Perfection usually lives in the last 20%, where the improvements are often invisible to everyone except us.
And here's tool number four. Ask one simple question. Instead of asking, "Is this perfect?" ask, "Is this useful?" Because I'll tell you something. Useful changes lives. And perfect impresses almost no one.
And you know, when you dig down to the, I don't know, the deepest pieces or the deepest depths of BUILD IT, BABY!, BUILD IT, BABY! wasn't created to appear perfect. I'm certainly not perfect. My experiences by far in my life have not been perfect. But boy, if I can help and smooth out the path and change one life in a real positive fashion, then you want to know what? That is perfect for me. I may not be perfect, but if what I'm sharing can help someone else, oh by God, that's perfect.
Tool number five. Remember who you're building for. Perfection keeps our attention on ourselves. Purpose shifts our attention to others. I mean, why am I building BUILD IT, BABY!? I'm certainly not, you know, building a podcast so that I can listen to my voice. I'm building it because I want to help others.
When you remember someone may need exactly what you're creating today, not six months from now, it becomes easier to let go of polishing, you know, every last detail. And in my experience, I mean, people are not that critical. They aren't looking at absolutely every detail. Did I eliminate all the ahs or the ums? Oh hell no. Matter of fact, we discussed that early on. That's me living in there.
No. BUILD IT, BABY! isn't perfect, but its mission is perfect. Its desire to help is perfect.
Tool number six. I do this all the time. Create a done list. We're all familiar with a to-do list. Instead, keep a done list. I do this all the time. I have a done list. Every finished task, whether it's a post, a conversation, a draft, or a phone call, is evidence that you're moving forward. And momentum grows when we recognize the progress in that.
I mean, I'll even put, you know, fold the laundry. Okay, Chuck. Just because it feels really good to have all those things on my done list, because then I know I'm making progress. There's things that I've done on the business. Okay, I made that—I sent that email off, or I looked at my thoughts and wrote them down to what I wanted to share. And I thought about the script and I honed it and perfected it, and then great, sent it off to my producer for review. Done.
And then number seven, ask yourself, "Will this matter a year from now?" Because most of the tiny details we obsess over, they'll never even be remembered. But the decision to finally begin, that might change your entire life. Imagine building a house, and I've mentioned this before when I was talking about building in bad weather, but I think it is simple and a great example. No one expects to walk into a construction site and see polished hardwood floors before the foundation is even being poured. You know, the exposed beams aren't failures, they're evidence that something is being built.
Business, careers, relationships, even people, they're no different. Perfectionism isn't the opposite of failure. It's often the opposite of courage. Because courage says I'll go first, perfection says I'll wait. One creates movement, the other creates delay.
I mean, I was thinking about this. Am I gonna listen, you know, for the first year of the podcast in 2025, which I've done. I've listened to all of the podcasts. And did I find small little imperfections? Of course I did. But you want to know what else I found? I found growth. I found a stronger, more confident voice.
I was fortunate enough to work with an amazing producer who, you know, really went through—I don't know, I think we created, I think they're somewhere in the archives, I think we created three or four podcasts, and they were truthfully pitiful. And, you know, we still laugh about them, I mean, today. But we pitched it out there. We didn't go public, thank God. But when I listened to some of those very few pieces, I mean, first of all, you could lay down on the floor and just laugh all night long listening to these. You know, I couldn't even keep myself from cracking up.
So I think when you say to yourself, "Well, you know, I'll delay, I'll make sure that this is perfect," I think you have to remember one thing. Perfection is an idea, and progress is a decision.
It's about permission. Permission to begin, permission to learn as you go along, permission to improve. Oh, yeah, and we did that, and permission to become. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
And truthfully, I am not ashamed of one thing that we have pitched out under BUILD IT, BABY! Was it all perfect? No. Are we honing our skills? Sure we are.
That shifts the conversation from a personality trait, "I'm a perfectionist," to a choice. I can give myself permission to move. And you know why that's empowering? Because it's actionable. And you know me, I'm an action Jackson kind of chick. Make a move, for better or for worse, but make the move.
And have you ever noticed that perfectionism has the world's best PR department? It sounds so responsible. "I'm a perfectionist." It sounds professional, it sounds like high standards, but sometimes it's just fear wearing a really expensive suit.
Because builders don't build monuments. You know what we build? We build prototypes. That's right. Prototypes. It's the first pitch out. How's it looking? What can we improve? It's the first version, and every version teaches how to build the next one better. And that goes for whether it's a business or career or relationship or life. We're all living versions. Version one, then there's version two, then there's version three. No one skips straight to the masterpiece.
So this week I want to give you a little challenge. Think about the one thing you've been waiting to make perfect. Is it the phone call, the application, the business, the conversation? Is it the book you're writing? Is it the podcast you're creating? Whatever it is. Don't make it perfect. Make it real. Make it useful. Make it happen.
Because perfect never built anything. But your next step just might build everything.
Let me share with you the BUILD IT, BABY! 24-hour builder rule. Whenever you have an idea that matters, take one visible action step within the first 24 hours. You don't have to finish it. You don't have to master it. Just prove to yourself that the dream has left your imagination and entered into the real world. Because, my friend, that is where the magic really begins.
And this could be buy the domain for the 12 bucks. Make the phone call. Record the rough video. I mean, they're hysterical. You'll love listening to them years later. Write the first paragraph of the book, send the first email, register the business.
And I love this. This is one of my favorites because this was so hard for me. Just tell someone you're starting. Remember the bus driver? "What do you do for a living?" "Oh well, I just started an online fashion magazine." He was the first guy I ever told about that magazine.
So tell someone you're starting. Small actions break the perfectionist's grip because they replace endless thinking with forward motion, and the universe always responds to motion. Perfection doesn't build momentum, action does.
Every great business, every meaningful career, every fulfilled life was once someone's imperfect first attempt. And I'm not suggesting celebrating doing things carelessly, but because I understand that excellence is something we grow into, not something we wait to possess before we begin. The difference between excellence and perfection is that excellence says, "I care enough to do my very best." Perfection says, "I won't let anyone see it until there's nothing left to criticize." One comes from purpose, the other often comes from fear. Fear of judgment.
That distinction should give you permission to pursue quality without becoming trapped by the impossible standards. Perfection never arrives because our standards will keep moving with us. Builders learn to say, "This represents my best work today." And then they move forward.
So here’s the part where I tell you exactly what I know. These are my knowings, the things I no longer question because they've shown themselves to me again and again—not from a book, but from building, getting knocked down, getting back up, and doing this work in the real world.
Okay. So here you go. Here are my knowings.
I know that I am so far from perfect, but more importantly, I am willing to grow. I am willing to share. And I am willing to build.
Number two. I know that every step I take gets me closer to my perfect. And my perfect is knowing that I was willing to throw it out there. Willing to keep perfecting it, to try to keep making it better. And understanding that I needed to be patient with me. Because the universe wasn't done with me yet either.
And number three, I know that every step I take, every movement I make, and every belief in my purpose will bring me closer to my goal. Will bring me closer to helping others.
Those are my knowings. Okay, here we go. It's that time is my favorite. Listener question. And this is from Ashton in Florida.
"Penelope, I want to open a business. However, there are others in the same field who are my competition. Should that be a problem?"
Well, Ashton, no, that should not even enter into your equation. And let me tell you why.
There will always be similar products or services to yours. I mean, my God, look at how many podcasts are out there. There's a billion recruiting companies and there was a billion fashion companies. But I'll tell you something that I learned about this word competition. I really don't believe that we are competing and stealing from each other or taking, you know, because I'm successful, then you have to be less than.
But in my heart of hearts, I felt like we had something very different to offer. Were we under the same category, professional photographers? Yes. Was there a different style? Yes. Was my approach different than everyone else in the marketplace? Oh yeah. Definitely yes.
So when you think of competing, we automatically think, okay, well, if you compete, then there's a winner and there's a loser. And I don't believe that for one minute. I believe that the marketplace is large enough to support all, you know, all that are in the same category to be successful.
Because I'll tell you what, even if you don't try, your way of doing business will be different than the other guy.
Now, do I think it's important to investigate what their offers are? Oh hell yeah. I went in as a potential client, I looked around, I looked at the type of studio they had, I looked at the kind of clients that they were, you know, for years and years and years, very successful with. And I knew that my market was going to be perhaps many of the same clients, but my product was very, very different than what had been offered traditionally.
I was kind of going off on the edge of the photography industry at the time. Boudoir photography had just come into vogue, and I was one of the first females that really embraced that art form.
So I think that when you open a business and you know that you have others that are going to be under the same category as you do, I think the key is to be very clear about what they offer, how they offer it, and how different your product will be to theirs.
Because there will be people that like their product versus people that like your product, the way you deliver it.
And one of the things I have found over the 40-plus years in business that I have been, there is a lot of room for improvement.
So when you go look at another business, you know, it's simple. One of the first things I see that happens all the time, if you're a brick-and-mortar business, I'll tell you what will stand out before anything else. Keep it clean.
Most offices, most buildings, most, you know, companies, there's dust on the windowsill, there's dead flies that you walk in, the carpet's got stains, it looked like, you know, someone changed a diaper. I mean, I could go on for an hour and a half on clean.
So right there, just make your product, you know, very—the building clean, tidy, the windows are polished, all the people that work for you are fine-tuned, they're in uniform or whatever the situation is. That right there moves your work so far apart from what already is in, you know, what already is in the marketplace.
So I would go in and I would look at how they're presenting their product, and then I would upgrade everything that I was doing that would be just basic common sense, or how you handle your clients, how fast you return the call, how they can receive, you know, a real voice and not the voicemail. I mean, there's a billion basics that will set your products apart.
And then the last piece is never be afraid of the quote-unquote competition. There's plenty to go around. Wish them the very, very best. Be polite at the Chamber of Commerce meeting when you come in to meet with them. They may not be real excited to meet you, but you know, extend your hand and wish them well.
Never talk poorly about your competition. Even if you drive away going, "Oh dear Lord in heaven, you know, they need to mop the floor." Never speak badly of those that are in your field. I don't think you speak badly about anybody anytime, but anyhow, that is my thought about competition.
There is none. You make your product, your service, your presentation, your purpose, your desire to help others with your product or service. You make that the number one thing on your list, and by God, my friend, you'll never have any competition.
So that's what I say about that, Ashton, in Florida. And I hope you're enjoying the wonderful weather there.
Well, it's that time. Thank you for listening to BUILD IT, BABY! You know, I've learned something over the years. We don't become ready by waiting, we become ready by building. Every conversation teaches us something, every client teaches us something, and every mistake teaches us something.
Life doesn't reward perfection, it rewards participation. Perfect never built anything, but progress built everything.
Now go out there and build it, baby.
Always best, P.
BUILD IT, BABY! is a Rainy Day Production House original, hosted by Penelope Bent and produced and edited by Morgan Clymer. Music by Yuri Shemshishin and Oleksii Holubiev. If this episode spoke to you, please follow the show and leave a review. It helps more dreamers like you find us. And remember, you’re not just building a bold business or career—you’re building a bold life.
