Some days, I swear I wake up and take a stupid pill. Unaware, I get mired down and stuck in the perfection rut.
This morning? Yep. Down the hatch.
I was working on a micro course called The Perfectionist’s Escape Plan. Ironic, right?
The content was solid.
The concept? Clear.
The problem? A damn subtitle.
I sat there, tweaking, adjusting, second-guessing.
"Maybe the subtitle isn’t quite right," whispered the Perfection Bitch who’s been freeloading on my shoulder for decades.
That’s when I realized — this wasn’t about a subtitle. This was about stalling in action.
As a side note: I promised I'd publish Evict the Perfection Witch as a MindShift Exercise™, but “she” kept whispering, “It's not quite right, yet “
Geez! That was three years ago. Get the fuck off my right shoulder!
GET. OFF. MY. SHOULDER. NOW!
Pardon me, dear one, for being distracted. I shall get back on point.
Perfectionism is Just a Fancy Pause Button
Well, not exactly a pause button. More like a kill switch.
No. It's not meant to kill. It's for pausing the process and getting it just right before completing.
Right there. See what I mean?
I know this pattern well. I am an expert. Maybe you are, too.
You’re ready to launch, create, speak up, or step forward, but instead… you tweak.
Another side note: Reading the draft to Hubs#3, he thought I said “twerk”.
So instead of finishing, you wait. You refine.
You research one more thing. You convince yourself it’s “not quite ready.”
The truth?
Perfection isn’t progress. It’s a detour disguised as diligence.
I’ve lived that firsthand.
Story #1: The Time I Almost Didn’t Publish My Book
When I wrote MindShift On-Demand, I thought I had it handled.
After all, I teach people how to shift their mindset in seconds. I’ve helped thousands break through doubt, fear, and hesitation.
And yet, when it came to publishing my book? There she was again! The Perfection Bitch came at me with a megaphone.
📣 "Maybe the cover isn’t quite right.”
📣 “Maybe you need one more edit.”
📣 “Maybe you should wait until the perfect launch time…"
I let those whispers turn into shouts and they stalled me, and the book went through 35 editing rounds.
But then, I finally asked myself the same questions I ask my coaching clients:
"What do you desire?”
“What’s the worst that happens if you just put it out there?"
So I hit publish.
And you know what?
The world didn’t end. The book didn’t have to be perfect to change lives, but it did!
Without promotions, the book reached #1 in hot new releases in Sports Psychology on Amazon.
If I had waited until it felt “just right,” it would still be sitting on my desktop collecting digital dust.
Story #2: The Time I Thought I Was a Terrible Basketball Player — Until Kareem Opened My Mind
Perfectionism doesn’t just make us stall — it warps how we see ourselves.
It convinces us we’re not “good enough” no matter how much we accomplish.
I learned this lesson the hard way.
When I was in high school, after every basketball game, I’d ask myself those two questions:
"Why am I such a poor player?"
"Why do I miss so many times?"
I thought I was an imperfect player — never quite good enough.
Fast-forward to the day I went on national television with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Just before we went on stage, in the green room, he asked me, "Where did you play?"
Not if I played. Nor did I play.
Since I was 6’9” standing in 4-inch heels, he rightly assumed I did play.
When I told him I averaged 36 points per game over five years, he looked me square in the eyes and said:
"You were not good. You were a star!"
A star?! That wasn’t how I saw myself at all.
I had spent years measuring myself by what I missed, not by what I had achieved.
That’s what perfectionism does — it keeps moving the goalpost and zeroing the scoreboard.
It took Kareem Freaking Abdul-Jabbar to shift me out of that warped thinking!
The Detour
Perfectionism makes us fixate on our “misses” instead of recognizing the wins.
It’s a detour that never ends — until we gear up, turn off that path, and accelerate.
Today, when I caught myself stalling on my itty bitty course subtitle, I remembered that moment with Kareem.
I had a choice: Keep waiting for the perfect words to surface or just get it out there and let it be.
Getting it out there messy is better than publishing NONE.
So, I picked one subtitle. And I’m moving forward with that.
Story #3: The Time My “Ugly” Became Someone Else’s Healing
Looking back more than five decades, I knew I was broken. Completely unworthy.
There was much to keep secret until I died… until.
During a Substack bootcamp with Tom Kuegler, I was challenged to list 10 emotional memories and write about each.
I listed twice that, but still, I was terrified to open up about the ugliest ones.
The objective?
Write something so pure, so real, that readers wouldn’t just read it; they’d feel me.
You'd feel me.
But the questions haunted me:
"Who am I?”
“Why does what I have done matter?"
"How could my ugliest truths possibly have a positive impact on others?"
Even though I felt at risk speaking my truth, I took off my mouth muffler and ventured out with a fuck or two.
I wasn’t rejected.
But I was still waiting — waiting for the gears to grind, for the backlash, for the world to confirm my worst fears.
Then, after weekly postings, writing daily notes for months, I did something that scared me to the core.
I took the biggest risk yet and shared one of the toughest periods in my life — that I’m a convicted felon.
To my shock, the voiceover I had published as a podcast has had:
Nearly 2,000 downloads
More than 530 likes
22 restacks
And the comments?
They stopped me in my tracks:
"I can’t wait to soak up all the healing energy from you sharing your shit! It’s magical how 'confessing the ugly' starts such a positive, healing effect for all of us around." ~ Megan Lee
My imperfections — the very ones I thought disqualified me — became a catalyst for healing in others.
Then after the two subsequent hard-truth posts, I realized I was publishing The Fifty Shades of Donna publicly in real time.
The Detour vs. The Escape Route
I spent decades believing I had to keep my truth hidden. That if I let people see my ugliest moments, I’d be unworthy, unlovable, or cast out.
That’s what perfectionism does — it keeps us hiding.
But perfectionism is a detour that never ends — until we step off.
When I caught myself stalling over a stupid subtitle on a micro course, I realized… this was the same damn thing.
The fear of not getting it just right keeps us from getting it out there at all.
So, I picked one subtitle. And I’m moving forward.
Your Turn: Where Are You Stalling?
What are you still tweaking, hiding, or waiting to be “perfect” before sharing?
Drop the detour. Take the escape route.
I'm wondering…
If perfectionism slows you down, would a tiny course with mini actions help?
From an expert at overthinking?
I'm Donna Blevins, the Unmuffled MindShift Mechanic, and I'm hell bent on playing the crappy cards life deals me as if I've already won.
Are you game?
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