We strive for perfection. The key word here is "strive" because perfection is rarely attainable. Sure, in black and white instances like the SAT tests people achieve perfect scores. Those are tests of knowledge and comprehension. The answers are either right, or wrong. It's not a test of your ability to succeed in college or in life.

What makes a day "perfect", or a meal, or an event? The answers vary from one person and situation to the next. Variables come into play. In both business and life, because of the variables, there are very few occasions when perfect is possible. Perfect is the result of maximizing all those variables. But, it could always be better. Perfect becomes a moving target.

Therein lies the frustration. It's especially true of your own performance. The better you become, the better you can become. You know that. We lived that experience as kids and we relived it in jobs through performance evaluations - you are measured not against an absolute standard but against your ability to improve your own performance. When is "good enough" actually good enough? The key is optimizing the variables, not maximizing them.

Think of it as squeezing Jell-O. When you push one side too hard it squirts out the other side. Trying to squeeze too much time out of an operation will probably cause quality issues to balloon. Pushing on quality will probably force cost and time to expand. The same principle applies to decision-making. Waiting for the "perfect" opportunity will probably result in pushing aside the good opportunities. Successful people play the odds - they're constantly embracing the good opportunities and succeeding more often than not. The more they succeed, the better they get.

Chasing perfect is exhausting! Find a way to live in Success. Optimizing your actions and opportunities will get you to your goals and reduce your frustration.

I've heard people say: "Why would you give away something you could get paid for?" It's particularly relevant for someone like me who provides a service.

I was practicing at the driving range recently, and a young fellow walked up to me and introduced himself as one of the instructors at the golf school located at that course. He asked if he could take a look at my swing and give me a few pointers. When people ask me questions like that I always say "Sure". Not just because free is good, but because I want to see how they do business. He spent 10 minutes with me looking at my set-up and swing, made a few suggestions and then made a video that we could look at together. He showed me on the video that what I thought I was doing was not what I was actually doing, told me how I could correct that and how it would improve my game (just as I do when I coach people, amazing). He told me that I could call him if I would like to schedule a lesson. He thanked me for my time.

He invested a half-hour of his time giving away his expertise with no guarantee of a return on his investment. But, he now has me as a customer because in that time he proved that he knew what he was talking about, we could communicate, I would be able to improve, and it would get me closer to my goals.

By investing in a relationship he got both a customer and a referral source.

Want to make an impression? Want to be remembered the next time you meet with someone? Would you invest the price of a latte to get a referral?

Bring a gift the next time you visit. It doesn't need to be expensive but it does need to be thoughtful. Make it something they could truly use and appreciate. A gift card for a shop you know they use. Movie passes if they often mention the movies they see. You get the idea. People do business with people they know, like, and trust. Two down, one to go.