Perfectionists try to get everything right, which means they get nothing truly right. Joe contrasts this with focusing on 3-4 high-leverage principles that, if you get them right, everything else falls into place. In marketing, in running a company, in coaching—the move is always the same: identify the few things that matter most.
For coaching, Joe’s three principles: Is my heart open? Am I following them? Am I making sure I’m not trying to get them anywhere? If he does those three things, “everything else becomes automatic.” The small improvements happen naturally through iteration over time—precisely because he’s NOT trying to perfect each detail.
For customer service: if you focus on genuine connection with the customer, the product improves, the service improves, the care shows through. If you try to perfect the script, the response time, the voice quality, the timing—you lose track of connection, which was the one thing that actually mattered.
“Who cares what the house looks like if you’ve got love?”
Trying to have the perfect marriage is hell. Trying to have a loving marriage is freedom. The leverage point is always simpler and deeper than the perfectionist imagines.