Unbreakable Mind & Body

Done Is Better Than Perfect: Embracing Imperfection in Career and Life

• Tiana • Episode 3

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Perfectionism has a way of keeping us locked in place, afraid to act until everything is flawless. But what if the key to growth lies in the messy middle of imperfect action? 

This raw and vulnerable episode explores my journey from paralyzing perfectionism to embracing the liberating concept that "done is better than perfect." I share how this shift in mindset finally allowed me to launch this podcast after recording 13 episodes in 2022 that never saw the light of day. The fears that once held me back—background noise, judgment, shame—now seem so small compared to the importance of sharing authentic stories that might help others feel less alone.

Through personal stories about my snowboarding meltdown, persisting through an engineering degree I hated, and my winding career path from property management to fitness entrepreneurship, I illustrate how life presents us with repeated opportunities on a spiral staircase. Taking messy, imperfect action has cleared my path forward in ways that endless planning and perfectionism never could.

Whether you're contemplating a career change, launching a creative project, or making any significant life transition, remember that you don't have to choose the hardest path—but you do have to choose something. Standing still means moving backward as everything around you continues to evolve. Subscribe to join me on this journey of growth, vulnerability, and the beautiful imperfection of progress over perfection.

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Disclaimer: This show is for education and entertainment purposes only. This is not intended as a replacement for therapy. Please seek out the help of a professional to assist you with your specific situation.


Tiana:

Welcome back to the Unbreakable Mind and Body Podcast. I'm your host, tiana, and this is episode three of the show. If you're new here, welcome. I'm so grateful and happy that you have chosen to give me a little bit of your time and attention. I promise to keep the show entertaining, somewhat educational and fun.

Tiana:

In episode one of the show, I talk about how your past does not define your future. In episode two, I dive into a little bit more detail with my childhood and how I dove headfirst into academia and extracurricular activities, but also the interesting dynamic at home and how I had to learn how to become soft as an adult. So if you'd like to hear those episodes, please go back after you hear this one. In this episode, I want to talk a little bit about my career and I promise not to bore you with a timeline, because that is mind-numbing, but rather I'd like to talk about a concept line, because that is mind numbing, but rather I'd like to talk about a concept. I have worked with several mentors over the last few years, particularly from 2020 on, and one of my spiritual teachers shared this notion with me and I love it, but she talked about how done is better than perfect. I'll say that again Done is better than perfect. Sit with that. It's pretty cool, right? It's perfect for someone like me, someone who grew up really obsessive, really anxious, really controlling, and a perfectionist anxious, really controlling and a perfectionist. In fact, my perfectionism is part of what stalled the launch of this show many years ago.

Tiana:

I recorded 13 episodes of this exact podcast Unbreakable in 2022. I edited most of it and I never hit the launch button. I edited most of it and I never hit the launch button. One I was afraid of background noise, which, guess what? I'm still living in the same place, so you may or may not hear a siren go by outside my apartment window. You might hear my neighbors talking upstairs. I apologize for that, but guess what? What I have to say is way more important than a little bit of background noise. That's a transformation right there, because three, four years ago, I probably wouldn't have said that or thought that. Another thing was fear of judgment and facing my shame. I was worried so much about what everyone would think of me that I didn't want to talk about certain things. They still are somewhat uncomfortable. However, the evolution of the woman that you're listening to has been so much that maybe it is uncomfortable, I'm still going to sit with it. Maybe it is uncomfortable, I'm still going to talk about it. Maybe it's challenging and uncomfortable and that's it. So what? Sharing these stories on this show is scary. It's scary as fuck, and I'm still gonna do it.

Tiana:

I believe that the only way we can support each other and encourage each other is to share the humanity of each other, to say to you hey, don't worry about it, I've been there too. Life is basically like this spiral staircase, right. So we are going to encounter circumstances, people, situations, relationships that are either just like something from our past, or they mirror something from our past, or they almost look exactly the same. Hopefully, what changes is you? Hopefully, what's evolved is how you see it, how you receive it, how you sit with it, how you process it and then, most importantly, how you take action. I'm a big action person and I think that that lends itself to the reason why I feel like I have over a hundred podcast episodes in my brain that I need to get out, because I will put myself out there. I'll try, I'll give it a shot.

Tiana:

I remember my junior year of college. I went to Binghamton University, which is in the middle of New York state Very cold, lots of snow, the sun hardly ever shines Although the ongoing joke was always that the sun shines when our parents come to visit us of snowboarding sessions and a lift ticket. And I remember first day I had beginner's luck. Second day I fell and I kept falling and I kept falling on the same spot of my ass every time. If you've ever been snowboarding, you know what that feels like. It's horrible because once you fall, then you kind of tense up and you know what's coming every time you slip Extremely painful. I had such a temper tantrum and I was so embarrassed because the perfectionist in me wanted to be great at this right away. And I was good at it on day one. Why couldn't I be good at it again? And I walked down the mountain with tears streaming down my cheeks, snot coming out of my nose. Worst of all embarrassment it was like steaming off of my coat. I was so ashamed of myself.

Tiana:

I remember the guy that I was seeing at the time. He kind of just left me in the dust and I don't blame him. He was with a group of people that were much more advanced than me and he asked me will you be mad at me if I go off, you know, to whatever the next level. I'm not a skier or snowboarder, but whatever it is like. You go from green to blue and there's different shapes. Somebody help me out here. But I remember he whizzed right by me. I don't even think he knew it was me. I was shot. What a disaster.

Tiana:

How can you do something for the first or second time and expect to be great at it? It is a skill you have to learn. So how ridiculous would it be to expect near perfection or a flawless execution on your first try? That's unheard of. Now, of course, there may be some things that that is the case. I was a dancer. I still am a dancer, actually. I just don't dance on a stage anymore. But growing up I did a lot of performances. I was in a company and in college we used to perform for various groups that had dinners and banquets and such, and it was fantastic For me. I always felt like, well, I'm a quick learner, I am a quick learner and still, when something requires a skill, we have to give ourselves grace for that skill.

Tiana:

So, going back to my career, I go to engineering school. It's fucking impossible. I barely make it. I cried every single day of this program. I wanted out and I thought if I quit engineering school I wouldn't be able to live with the shame and embarrassment of making that change, of making that change. I also didn't want the financial burden of another semester or possibly another year of college. That was absolutely not going to happen. I needed to graduate, get the degree and just get a job and start working. So I worked in engineering for a few years and then I got into commercial real estate property management. That was awesome. I did that for about 10 years and I loved it until I didn't.

Tiana:

Things started to change in the industry. Business was beginning to operate on a 24 by 7 model and I changed companies at one point. So my clientele had retail locations, not just office space. When you have a retail or a storefront you have to have security, and some of these locations had an ATM in the vestibule, which means that they're technically open for business. So if your client is open for business 24 seven, guess what? You could get calls 24 seven, and so that started to happen. Like the last few years, I was just getting all these phone calls in the middle of the night. On holidays, I would have to travel out to these sites. Now, fun fact, I didn't have an iPhone and I didn't have a GPS, so I was getting lost all over the state of New Jersey with printed out maps and directions from MapQuest. Wow, I'm aging myself and eventually finding these buildings, and I just decided at one point this is not what I wanna do for the rest of my life.

Tiana:

Now, on a side note, I had been competing in bodybuilding shows and I had learned so much about health and wellness, and there was a period of time while I was still working as a property manager that my health was not the best. I had really done a number to my body by the level of stress that I was under to prepare for these competitions and from all the different doctors that I saw and the various tests that I underwent and making sure that I didn't have anything terminal or anything really serious. I learned so much about the human body and about health and wellness, and it really spurred this idea of oh my goodness, I should do fitness, I can do this. So in 2011-ish, maybe 2012, I did some investing and I got my personal trainer certification. I learned about some online marketing with Facebook groups and also with different platforms, and I started my business. I realized I needed to get hands-on experience. So for a period of time, I was working in a gym, I was working my full-time job, and then I had my online business that I was working in a gym, I was working my full-time job, and then I had my online business that I was growing. Doesn't this sound just like what I had shared in episode one? I was working full-time and then I was bartending two or three nights a week.

Tiana:

I am no stranger to hard work, I am no stranger to the hustle, but guess what? It was so unnecessary. I could have taken the easier route, but I always chose the harder way. Just like I chose to walk down the mountain when the snowboarding became too difficult. Just like I chose to stick with a major that I hated from day one, from fall of 1996 until May of 2000. I cried every day and I still stuck with it. And just like that, I chose this difficult route of making this career transition from working in a nine to five, making six figures, to running my own business and working at a gym.

Tiana:

The fitness industry is very volatile. It is up and down and it takes time to build that network. It takes time to learn how to market yourself properly and to learn the skills. It's not intuitive. It's something that takes a lot of practice you have to put in the reps and if you wait for everything to be perfect before executing, you could be wasting a ton of time. So, just like I said at the beginning of this episode, done is better than perfect.

Tiana:

So my advice to you, if you are thinking about maybe changing your career, yes, get educated, do some investing, maybe in a course, or go back to school, get a mentor, but make sure that you don't waste too much time analyzing every step of the way. Just take the first step. Oftentimes you'll be able to clear away a lot of the nonsense because you're just taking action. You're taking that messy action. Things will fall into place or things will fall to the wayside and what's important will continue to stay relevant and right in the center of your path.

Tiana:

You don't always have to choose the hardest path, but you do have to choose something. Have to choose something. Life continues to move forward, so you can either grow and evolve with it or you can choose to stay still, in which case you're actually choosing to go backwards, because everyone and everything else around you is continuously progressing and continuously evolving. You can go at your own pace, but take that next step to move forward. And on that note I am going to wrap up this episode. Thank you so much for being here. As I requested in the beginning of the show, if you enjoy what you hear, please subscribe. That way you can be notified when the next episode is released. Thank you so much and I'll see you on the next one.