1.   Be High Quality

You are what you write, say, create, and do (in no particular order). No matter how grand your intentions or how generous and kind you may be as a person, others will know you by your words, actions, and creations.

So always hold yourself to a high standard:

•   Think before you speak (and don’t forget to rehearse).

•   Outline before you write (and always do second and third drafts).

•   Plan before you take action.

•   Double- and triple- and quadruple-check anything and everything you do.

Then go for it. But don’t let yourself be paralyzed by the myth of one hundred percent. You see, most people can effectively accomplish ninety-eight percent of the results of almost any undertaking in a rapid and efficient manner. If you ask me, ninety-eight percent is the highest standard of quality attainable by human beings. The two percent “error rate” is negligible.

I am not saying avoidable errors should be excused; clearly, that ninety-eight percent does not justify the kind of errors you can easily catch on double- and triplechecks. The two percent error rate I’m talking about is the central character in the myth proliferated by the procrastinators and failure-phobes of the world: the myth that they get nothing done because they are “perfectionists.” Don’t let that two percent keep you from executing the result, delivering it, and moving on to the next thing. That two percent is so relative, so open to debate, so intangible that it’s just not worth agonizing over for even five minutes.

So, hold yourself to the highest standard attainable (ninety-eight percent), and go for it: Speak, write, create, and do.