The 90% Rule That Helped Me Create More and Stress Less

Do you ever spend way too long tweaking one tiny part of your video (or email) no one else will likely ever notice?

 

Same.

 

A couple weeks ago, I almost didn’t upload a video.

Not because I didn’t have anything to say—but because it didn’t feel perfect yet.

 

I kept reshooting the intro.
Rewriting lines.
Fussing with the lighting, the tone, the edit…

 

It was supposed to be a simple upload. Instead, I turned it into a 3-hour spiral.

 

At some point, I sat back and laughed.

Not because it was funny, but because it was familiar.

 

This wasn’t about quality.
It was about control.

Fear—wearing a really professional disguise.

And under it all?
That quiet belief I thought I’d outgrown:

“If it’s not perfect, it’s not worth sharing.”

The Perfection Trap

If you create anything publicly—videos, offers, content, products— perfection shows up with a clipboard and a smug little smile.

 

It tells you to tweak, polish, overthink.

 

But what it actually does?
Is delay.
Drain.
Disconnect.

 

I’ve seen this play out too many times:

 

Creators holding onto edits for weeks.

Entrepreneurs pushing launches back “just a bit longer.”

Talented people sitting on incredible ideas… that never see the light of day.

 

All in the name of getting it right.

 

What Perfection Really Costs

Let’s be honest:
Perfect isn’t real. But the cost of chasing it is.

And it usually shows up like this:

• Burnout from trying to outperform yourself

• Missed opportunities while you "get it just right"

• A backlog of half-finished projects that never launch

• Creativity that gets edited out before it ever lands

What’s worse?

 

Most people won’t notice the 5% improvement you obsessed over.

 

But they will feel the absence of your work when it never shows up at all.

 

What I’ve Been Practicing Instead

 

Here’s what’s helping me break the loop:

✅ The 90% Rule
If it’s 90% solid, it goes out. I’ll learn more from sharing it than sitting on it.

✅ Progress over polish
I track outputs, not how shiny they are.

✅ “Done” gets a dopamine hit
Finished > Flawless.

✅ Let the first version breathe
Iteration only happens once something’s out there.

 

A Quick Gut Check

Look at your list this week.

 

Where are you stuck trying to make something perfect?

 

That draft video still in Final Cut?

 

That course you haven’t launched?

That post you keep editing instead of sharing?

 

What would happen if you called it done enough… and moved on?

 

Here’s what I know:

 

The things that change people’s lives— they’re rarely perfect.

But they’re real.

And they made it out the door.

Keep making.
Keep sharing.

And let good enough be the beginning, not the end.

 

Ciao for now,
Ash