Quick Answer
How do you stop perfectionism from getting in the way of taking action?
Start before you feel completely ready. Three practical ways to move forward are to make your progress visible, track the process rather than only the outcome, and declare your goal to a trusted group or peer. These steps can help turn good intentions into repeated action.
🌟[TT] Shipped 🧠
Thank you for your replies to last week’s Thursday Tips, where I shared 3 less-obvious metrics for brain health. I am glad many of you enjoyed it, and thank you for taking the time to reply. I love connecting with my Thursday Tips Tribe. Your emails help me create content to serve you better!
As I write this week’s [TT], I am in the USA with my Research and Advocacy hat on. It’s a multi-city stop, starting in New York City, where I met many medical doctors who do advocacy work on social media. Wow, there are some brave and inspiring voices out there, making such a difference!
I must admit, creating public-facing content on video has been a big learning curve for me.
It all started in about 2023 or 2024, when a patient charity asked to create a video with me for their YouTube channel about my mindfulness research study results. My first reaction was “oh no, I can’t do that!”, thinking my job is to do the work, not to go on social media!
After having a word with myself 🤣 I went ahead, and have since done a few more videos for them. I even started my own YouTube channel after that (it’s tiny: I think no one knows it exists except you, now! 🤣) to put out quality information as part of my mission to advocate for a brain health movement.
Those first videos I created for my channel took so long to make! The first 15-minute video took 20 hours, with multiple re-recordings, and it only shipped because I mentioned it in an interview.
Now, as I edited Episode 3 of my upcoming podcast launch, Brain Health FM with neurologist Dr Sui Wong (yes, it’ll be on YouTube too!), I thought to myself, “gosh, Episode 3 has a really bad hair day there”. Yes, it’s really bad: it looked like I didn’t brush my hair, but I did, promise! 🤣
This is when I remind myself: done is better than perfect.
Otherwise, this will never be shipped!
📍How to ship it
If you’re a high achiever who wants to maintain your cognitive edge but never feel ready, here are 3 things I’d share to help you ship it!
[1] Momentum
Building on last week’s idea that what you measure, you improve, use the visual tracking of your progress to motivate you. See the momentum you have gained, and let that visual momentum carry you forward.
Try this: a mark on a paper chart (I still like paper for this part). Mark it off every time you move the needle, even slightly. If you’re working on your morning wake time from last week’s metric, put the chart next to your alarm clock and mark it off every time you wake to the first alarm instead of hitting snooze. Or track your snoozes coming down.
[2] Track your process
Have I shared one of my favourite paraphrases with you? It’s this: the process is the goal.
So you track the process.
Try this: getting stable brain energy includes limiting afternoon coffee, which affects sleep quality and feeds the vicious cycle of afternoon fog and poor sleep. Track how often you go for a brisk walk instead of that coffee.
[3] Declare it
Share it with a trusted peer group: people who will notice and who are building the same thing. That could be your own circle, or a group of (selected, like-minded) strangers on the internet 🙂
Try this: if you want to build a morning movement habit, declare your target to the group. This builds on Tip [2]: name the process you’ll follow, not only the outcome you want.
📍The Brain Science
Two things worth knowing here.
First, the pull towards perfection is not only in your head. Across 164 samples and more than 41,000 people, perfectionism has risen steadily over recent decades.* (Measured in students, so read it as a cultural trend rather than a finding about any one of us.) The instinct to polish before shipping is common, and it is growing.
Second, the antidote is simpler than it sounds. A meta-analysis of 138 randomised studies, nearly 20,000 people, found that prompting people to monitor their progress made them more likely to reach their goal.* The average effect was modest but real. Two details matter for us: the effect was larger when progress was physically recorded, and larger again when it was reported or made public.
That maps onto all three tips. The paper chart is progress physically recorded (Tip 1). Tracking the process is monitoring, done often (Tip 2). Declaring it to a group is progress made public (Tip 3). None of this asks you to feel ready. It asks you to make progress visible.
📍Where this sits in the BRA(i)NS® Method
Shipping sits in Optimisation: mindset, habits and community. Momentum, tracking and declaring are how good intentions become repeated action.
For those new to the Thursday Tips Tribe, here is the shape of it. Purpose and Meaning is the container. Inside sit three pillars:
- Building Brain Resilience (BR) = your physical foundations
- Balancing the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) = your stress and relaxation responses
- Optimisation = mindset, habits and communit
- All of it is individualised to you, giving the (i)
This week leans on Optimisation: the habit of tracking, and the group you declare to. It also touches BR, because the habits you are shipping (movement, wake time, steadier energy) are the physical foundations themselves. Choose the tracking method and the group that fit you. That is the (i).
📍Question for you today
What is one thing you’ve been polishing that would serve people more if you simply shipped it this week?
Wishing you progress with your process,
Dr Sui Wong
PS – My podcast, Brain Health FM, is launching soon (on YouTube too). To catch the early episodes as they land, follow along here: [www.BrainHealth.fm]
PPS – For Tip [3], you’re welcome to declare your target inside my free BRA(i)NS® Clarity Community, a space for likeminded people proactively building their brain health: [Click here to learn more]
*References:
- Curran & Hill (2019) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29283599/
- Harkin et al (2016) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26479070/
What does “done is better than perfect” mean?
“Done is better than perfect” means taking useful action rather than delaying something because it does not yet meet an ideal standard. For high achievers, this can mean accepting that something can be good enough to share, learn from and improve later.
This directly reflects the personal story in the post.
How do you take action when you never feel ready?
Three useful strategies are to build momentum, track your process and declare your goal. Making progress visible can help maintain momentum, while tracking the process and sharing your target with trusted people can create accountability.
How does tracking progress help you reach a goal?
Tracking progress makes your actions visible and can increase the likelihood of reaching a goal. Research cited in this article found that progress monitoring had a modest positive effect on goal attainment, with stronger effects when progress was physically recorded or reported publicly.
This is particularly strong for AEO because it gives a direct answer followed by the evidence from the article.
Why is perfectionism stopping me from taking action?
Perfectionism can create a tendency to keep polishing rather than sharing or completing something. The article suggests shifting attention from making the outcome perfect to making progress visible, tracking the process and taking action before you feel completely ready.
FAQ
What does “done is better than perfect” mean?
It means taking action instead of waiting for something to become perfect. Completing and sharing something gives you the opportunity to learn, improve and build momentum.
How can I stop perfectionism from delaying my goals?
Focus on the process rather than only the final outcome. Track small signs of progress and share your target with a trusted person or group who can help you stay accountable.
Does tracking progress help you reach your goals?
Yes. The research discussed in this article found that monitoring progress can modestly improve goal attainment, particularly when progress is physically recorded or made public.
How can I build momentum when starting a new habit?
Make your progress visible. For example, mark each successful action on a paper chart. You can also track the process that leads to your desired outcome and declare your target to a trusted group.
My mission:
To inspire a movement for better brain health.
Because better brain health supports better wellbeing. And better wellbeing creates a ripple effect that benefits individuals, families, communities, and beyond. Making the world a better place for all. And it all starts with you as the individual.
I am a practising medical doctor (MBBS MD FRCP MA FHEA DipIBLM) working as a Neurologist and Neuro-Ophthalmologist, and am an active neuroscience researcher. My research is inspired by questions arising from my busy clinical practice, and I am grateful that both have been recognised with awards.
I am also an Author and Speaker, creating public-facing health content in my spare time.
Learn more:
drsuiwongmd.com
>> Join the Brain Health Movement: Share this email with someone who will enjoy my content. See link to socials below
>> Follow me on:
INSTAGRAM: drsuiwong.neurologist | LINKED IN: linkedin.com/in/dr-sui-wong-neurologist | YouTube: http://www.YouTube.com/@DrSuiWong
If you received this as a forwarded link, please sign up to the [TT] newsletter via bit.ly/drwongbrainhealth
Thank you for your support!
Books: available where all good books are sold, in print, eBook and audiobook formats. LEARN MORE: Mindfulness for Brain Health , Break Free From Migraines Naturally, Sleep Better to Thrive, Quit Ultra-Processed Foods Now, Sweet Spot for Brain Health, Magnesium: Restore & Revitalize Your Brain & Body
NEW BOOK COMING SOON!
To be on the priority notification list and receive bonuses during the promotional period, sign up here: brainsbooklaunch.com
Sleep Anchor Method®
Audioguide Series with Dr Sui Wong [learn more]
AI tool trained on Dr Sui Wong’s Sleep Anchor Method® to create a personalised, downloadable tracker, and a companion Chatbot for troubleshooting & questions [learn more]
Other Resources:
Brain Health Podcast with Dr Sui Wong, link: brainhealth.fm
The BRA(i)NS® Clarity Community, [click here for free access]
Read my past Thursday Tips posts on drsuiwongmd.blog
If you received this as a forwarded email, please sign up for the [TT] newsletter via drwongbrainhealth.com
Apply for my next intake of the Peak Performance Brain Lab (PPBL) Mentorship: request by email
(C) 2024-2026 Dr Sui H. Wong MD FRCP
Leave a Reply