Progress, not perfection

10 years ago, I stumped up 4 payments of $147 to join the now defunct course called Internet Business Mastery (IBM). The two hosts, Jeremy and Jason, had been creating free podcasts on the same topic for a long time, all of which I consumed, hoping they would help me start an online business and achieve my “freedom”.

The actual course was solid and took you, step by step, through identifying your own “SMP”, your “Single Motivating Purpose” - ideals, passions and values which would help you pinpoint how you might be able to help others and make money too. The course even suggested you take the Myer Briggs 16personalities tests and Gallup Strengths Finder 2.0

According to 16personalities, I’m the Mediator - INFP-T and I got the following as my top 5 strengths.

As part of finding my “SMP” I also had to reach out to people I was close with, to ask them questions like:

• What are my natural talents and strengths?
• What traits, knowledge or skills do I have that set me apart?
• What do you admire about me?
• What are things that you count on me for?
• What are things that seem to make me happiest when I am doing them?

This was the most cringe-worthy part of the process, especially as everyone had good things to say, even if they would never say them to my face. Nor would I believe them anyway, such is my imposter syndrome.

I was hoping for some sort of epiphany at this point, the test results and feedback telling me I should change career to become a neurosurgeon, therapist or songwriter, instead of working in IT Support. But it never materialised and the bulb I hoped would light up, fizzled out. My personality test and strengths pretty much matched what I was doing already and what sort of person I already was.

I tried to focus on the results, spending time on long walks during my lunch break, thinking about my SMP and brainstorming ideas for an online business that could use my personality type and strengths but in the end, I half-assed a course to help authors build a WordPress website to market their books.

I knew nothing about authors and had no experience of promoting books and ended up not getting very far at all. If I remember rightly, I had the idea for the product very early on in the IBM process and bent and twisted everything I was learning toward that goal. I didn’t remain open to pivoting or changing my plans and completely ignored the test results.

In hindsight, what I believe I really wanted from the IBM course, was access to their private Facebook Group, where other (paying) members shared their successes or asked for support from each other.

I felt that I was missing out by not being in the inner circle, privy to the real information and the help I thought I needed. I was certain that once I was in amongst the movers and shakers, I would move and shake too, hanging on their coattails as we all boosted each other to success. I didn’t really want to follow the course after all (especially as most was given away for free on the podcasts anyway) I wanted connection with like minded people - something I have never had in real life.

I met some great people in the Facebook Group, some of which I am still friends with on Facebook. We set up a small Skype Mastermind group for people in the UK, apart from one member from the US who always seemed to coincide his lunch break with our meetings. He would be ordering a burger from a drive through as I was chopping vegetables for dinner, chatting business ideas. If I remember rightly, he was the only successful member of our group - not that I can remember his name now (Tony?) or even what his successful product was (might have been something to do with exam prep courses?). He was “making bank” though, as they say, without even trying very hard.

Despite the fact that I was usually quite morose in my mastermind meetings with my UK cohort, those were the experiences I loved. I preferred talking about doing the work than actually doing it myself. I had all the knowledge and advice to give others, but could never take action myself, or never consistently enough to make any headway.

When I was reading the latest post from @therealbrandonwilson where he showed the 10x Unicorn virtual event schedule, my interest in those membership groups was piqued again. For a moment, I longed to be part of it, to meet those infectious people, surrounding myself with their drive and enthusiasm to make up for the lack of my own. I would love to be a fly on the wall at those events, to hear the ideas from the presenters and participants. But again, I would be hoping that it would all brush off on me, which I know it wouldn’t.

Perhaps my real skill or strength is that I am just curious. I like knowing about new things, especially when they are around topics of personal growth or business.

However, on the other side of that coin is that I also know that I get bored easily and once I understand how it all works (without actually doing any of it) my interest in it will drop off a cliff.

One mantra that the owners of Internet Business Mastery used to say all the time was “Progress, not perfection.”

The problem was, I was too caught up in the idea of making progress to take any action. It wasn’t that I was striving for perfection, I was enjoying being a part of other peoples progress more than my own.