I suffer from a condition known as “analysis paralysis.”

You’ve probably been there, too.

If money didn’t matter, what career would you have? (Where do I even start? Artist? Writer? Dog petting specialist?)

If you could vacation anywhere, where would you go? (The entire world? No restrictions?)

What do you want for dinner? (Well, what am I having for lunch tomorrow?)

With a wealth of options available, it can feel next to impossible to narrow it down, especially with the entire internet at our fingertips. There are customer reviews, consumer testing, comparison charts, and “best of” lists. And let’s not even get into price hunting! When every option has its merits, choosing the best course of action can be overwhelming.

The same goes for facing down the tsunami of “what ifs” in your business, especially for those with a high Excellence value.

People with a high Excellence value are focused on offering perfection, or as close to it as possible.

You sit down and write a blog post, only to think of a completely different way of approaching the subject that might be a little better. So you write an entire second post. And then you edit it again. And again. Do you need to run an A/B test? Get an outside opinion (or five)? In the quest for one great blog post, you’ve now spent a week of working time…and your content strategy calls for doing this twice a month.

Of course, this is just for a blog post. Let’s say you want to run an online course. You need a website. A Facebook page. Twitter. Instagram? Pinterest? LinkedIn? An email list. A sales page. Graphics. Payment processing. Customer service. Maybe CRM software? A sales funnel. Maybe an e-book or a download? A webinar? An ad campaign? And have you even written your course? Is there audio? What’s your microphone situation? Audio editing software? Music cues? Beta testers? Proofreaders? Testimonials? A VA?

It can be overwhelming for any business owner, but when one of your key values — your Voice Values — is Excellence, your preparation process goes to a whole new level. You don’t just want a microphone, you want the best microphone. One round of beta testing? Why not three? If you’re on one social media service, why not all of them?

The problem is, when you want to deliver the absolute best product possible, making the best choice for every single aspect of your process often means you never actually launch the product. It’s time-consuming. It’s expensive. It’s a lot harder than shelving it and falling back on something that’s already out there — or going back to a day job. You can literally spend your entire life planning and researching and choosing the “best” options, without ever making that final decision. But if you can’t bring yourself to launch with anything but the best, you can quickly find yourself with one more step before it’s done…and one more…and one more after that. Suddenly, your Excellent business is out of business, and not only are your would-be clients missing out on what may have been the best product in your market, they’re not getting anything from you.

So how can you appease your drive for Excellence without getting stuck in the Bog of Eternal To-Do Lists?

First of all, keep it simple.

Okay, you know you want everything you do to be top-notch, but that doesn’t mean you have to do everything. It’s okay — and necessary! — to limit yourself. Focus on what matters, make those elements perfect, and let go of the rest.

You want your product to be the best it can be, so it makes sense for you to dedicate the bulk of your efforts there — whether that means an extra round of beta testing, hiring a proofreader or a copywriter (yes, we do write courses for our clients, too), or putting in a bit more background research.

Once you have a product you can stand behind, decide how you want to market it. A sales page is usually a safe bet — you want people to be able to read about your course and make the decision to sign up on their own. Any other marketing is going to drive them to this page, so this really needs to shine. Then focus on a few select channels for advertising — you probably don’t need campaigns on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and a webinar and a free download. Choose one or two (or, okay, three), but realize that if you spread yourself too thin, you’re not going to be able to offer the level of polish you expect from yourself. A marketing funnel is all about working smarter, not harder, and trying to do too many things means you’re not presenting your best self to anyone — which is exactly the opposite of what you, the high Excellence business owner, want.

Speaking of spreading yourself too thin, often one of the hardest things for someone with a high Excellence value is delegating.

Releasing that bit of control, letting someone else have a try, maybe even — *gasp* — not being thrilled with the results, it’s enough to make you want to just handle it yourself. All of it. All the time. The problem is, again, when you’re doing too much yourself, you’re not giving any one thing your best effort, which makes your high Excellence value even harder to meet.

Try reframing “delegating” as “hiring a professional.”

It’s possible you’ll still find some faults in the work that’s done on your behalf, but keep in mind that you’ve hired someone who is experienced and trained, and try to let them explain why they’ve done things the way they have. Always try to work with professionals who offer revisions as part of their process, because there’s a good chance you’ll want to fine-tune, and it doesn’t really help anyone if you end up fine-tuning by yourself after the project is delivered. But in case you do need to take matters into your own hands, be sure to leave enough space in your schedule to step in and polish until it’s up to your standards.

Finally, try viewing your expectations through the eyes of your Right Person.

As someone who holds myself to a high standard of Excellence, I know I am my harshest critic. I’ve always been a high-achiever, and if I know I can do something exceptionally, I feel like it’s my responsibility to do that. That said, there have been many times when the need for perfection has meant sleepless nights, missed opportunities, and unlaunched products. This doesn’t mean I’m about to accept unpolished as “good enough” — far from it! But I do recognize that no one expects me to single-handedly do and be all the things, all the time. Even business owners I know and respect have to rework their schedules and reframe their expectations. Just because you’d planned a weekly blog and ended up with a monthly one doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong — it just means you can focus on one great post, which may play to your strengths even better.

It’s not a matter of lowering your standards because “good enough” is fine for some people. The clients who truly appreciate your high quality are going to understand that you need to focus on a manageable number of projects so that you can give them your absolute best with the ones you choose to make your focus.

Think about a restaurant. When you visit a generic chain, you’re handed a War and Peace style menu book, with just about every option and permutation under the sun. Nachos. Salads. Burgers. Salmon. Steak. Pasta. Pizza. Fried chicken. There, it’s all about quantity. Now think about a high-end restaurant — I’m talking James Beard award, tasting menu, call for reservations and don’t expect salt on the table. Often, they’ll hand you a single slip of paper, with maybe half a dozen options for each course. Each one perfectly designed, layers of flavors and textures, paired just so. Because they know that’s the way to ensure every diner has an exceptional experience: create what you can control, make it just right, and leave the buffet to the other guys.

So go easy on yourself, high Excellence business owners. Accept that help, focus those energies. And, most importantly…don’t hold back from hitting that “publish” button.

In the comments, I’d love to hear:

Do you struggle with launching something knowing that you could make it even better with a few more hours…days…weeks…months? How do you decide when it’s time to call it “done”?