1005 Be Patient, Not Perfect

"Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence." - Vince LombardiOn today's 5-minute Friday, Lewis unpacks the dangers of perfectionism, illustrating the importance of focusing on habits, routines, and processes instead of comparing outcomes. You should still have big big dreams and set ambitious goals, but be patient in your attempt to achieve them. Mel Robbins: The “Secret” Mindset Habit to Building Confidence and Overcoming Scarcity: https://link.chtbl.com/970-podDr. Joe Dispenza on Healing the Body and Tranforming the Mind: https://link.chtbl.com/826-podMaster Your Mind and Defy the Odds with David Goggins: https://link.chtbl.com/715-pod Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Lewis Howes?

  This is Five Minute Friday.

• 0:08Lewis Howes?

  I want to start off today's episode with one of my favorite quotes. "Don't be perfect, be patient." Every time I share that out, people seem to really resonate with that. And I think there's a lot of people out there that are constantly putting so much pressure on themselves to be perfect every single day. I was coaching some students a few days ago, and this was the common theme. A lot of them said, "I'm just not where I want to be. I see everyone else doing these big, great things, and I feel like I'm so far behind. Or I have these dreams and I haven't accomplished them yet, and I'm putting all this pressure on myself to be perfect and accomplishing right now, and it's just not happening. I don't know what to do." Well, I'm telling you that school, business, relationships, especially in this moment,

• 0:51Lewis Howes?

  it might be tough to get to the place where you want to be in these things right this moment. And that's why you've got to really change the way you think about everything when you're living your life. Because you never want to let perfection be the enemy of good. Never let perfection kill your dreams, or hurt you, or hold you back. Listen, I want to be perfect at everything I do as well, but I don't let it cripple me. And I don't ruminate in the fact that I'm not achieving everything at the perfect level every single day, because I'll drive myself nuts. And my mental well-being, my emotional well-being, and my physical health will take a toll with that level of thinking. So I'm always striving to be better and improving, but I'm focusing on the small wins and the process.

• 1:36Lewis Howes?

  Did I show up today and follow through on the process that I said I would do? Did I do the things that were going to help me move an inch forward faster? Am I taking care of my habits, my rituals, my routines? All that. Perfectionism can drag you down. And the idea that you are not where you want to be right now, it can hold you back. But worrying about these things, worrying about not being perfect, that's when it makes it even worse. The more you worry and stress about things, you're losing the opportunity to make it better when you do that. So I'm going to tell you something right now. Appreciate the small wins. Every day, you can't appreciate the small wins if you don't set yourself up for success. And you create an overwhelming amount of things to do and you don't actually accomplish anything.

• 2:19Lewis Howes?

  So that's why I'm truly focused on a couple of things a day. And when I accomplish them, I don't say, ah, I'm not doing enough. I say, wow, I pushed myself closer to my dreams and where I want to be. I'm not where I want to be. I'm not fully satisfied, but I'm happy with the results and the actions I took today. And then I reflect back and say, what could I do better tomorrow? Appreciate the small wins every day. Don't say, ah, I'm not good enough because the more you say that, the more you're going to feel it and manifest it. I'm always thinking about three big goals a year, three big goals that I'm trying to go after that I want to set my limits to. Because I feel like they're beyond my reach right now.

• 2:59Lewis Howes?

  So I put those big goals out there and then I reverse engineer and think backwards every single month, every week, every day. What do I need to do? Who do I need to become? What skills do I need to create? How do I need to love myself? Let go of the past, heal. What do I need to forgive? Whatever may be, the more I focus on being perfect, the more I won't achieve anything. And I'll constantly be ruminating in the past and saying, why didn't I do more? You've got to let that go for yourself. That's killing your spirit. It's killing your soul and it's killing your dreams. So set a few big goals for yourself in a timeframe. I like to give six to 12 months, then focus on what am I going to do every single day?

• 3:37Lewis Howes?

  That's going to bring me joy and make me feel good by the actions I commit to and what I follow through with to the word to myself. That's what builds confidence, those daily actions, those daily steps. And then reflecting at night and saying, did I do what I say I was going to do? And if not, it's okay. You don't need to be perfect, but just adjust and move forward that next day. That's what this is about. Every day showing up with passion, with purpose and with love in your heart and doing the best you possibly can. Focus on that. Don't focus on being perfect because that will constantly eat you alive. And I'll leave you with this quote from the Hall of Fame NFL coach Vince Lombardi, who said perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.

• 4:22Lewis Howes?

  We're never going to be perfect, never. We might have some great moments. We might have some excellent days and excellent years, but we'll never be perfect. So don't be perfect, be patient. Thank you so much for listening and I hope you enjoyed this 5 Minute Friday. As always, check out LewisHowes.com for more School of Greatness inspiration and find me on social media @LewisHowes. And as always, you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great.