Last week, I shared a quiz I created with the help of AI. I’m really proud of it, not because it’s the final version (it’s not), but because it’s been on my to do list for over a year, and I created the first version in an afternoon.

As a recovering perfectionist, I often get stuck before I even get started. With the quiz for example, I was so hung up on my tech stack. There are several apps out there to help build interactive funnels, and the options overwhelmed me. Rather than just picking one, my quiz idea was still marked as “Not Started” in Notion tracker.

AI has helped me get out of my own way.

The startup world 🚀 talks a lot about minimally viable products (MVPs) as a way to get proof of concept and user feedback before investing a ton of resources into development and production.

This same mental model holds up in your everyday life, too.

I think about the last time we moved, and boxes of plates and glasses stayed in our dining room for a week.

Sick of the boxes taking up floor space, my husband just started putting the items away in our empty cabinets. Maybe not the perfect spots, but he got it done.

I was so caught up in optimizing, wanting to strategize the best place for everything to live, which meant the activity lived only in my head and never actually manifested in reality.

I don't think AI should ever be a replacement for you doing the talking or the writing, but what it does a great job at is getting out of the perfectionism and into the sh*tty first draft.

Instead of spinning my wheels on the best software (and never actually publishing anything), Claude turned my word document into an interactive experience that also grows my email list.

I understand the shortcomings of AI (don’t get me started on the design of ChatGPT flyers), and I also want to recognize the way it snaps me out of my perfectionistic paralysis.

The dishes didn’t need the perfect shelf, just a home that’s not a cardboard box.

In the same way, my quiz project didn’t need the perfect platform.

That thing you’ve been procrastinating doesn’t need the perfect plan, it just needs to exist as the simplest version that you can learn from.

In all honesty, it wasn’t just AI that helped me get ‘er done 🤠. I need to give credit where credit’s due.

I’m part of an accountability group where we meet virtually once a week, share our goal for the next hour, and get to work. We keep cameras on which is incredibly effective at keeping me on task.

I told my accountability buddy about my goal to create the MVP version of that interactive quiz, and how I was debating on the tech stack to use.

She called me out. I literally just said minimally viable, and in the same breath, started a dialogue about what app to use.

So she held me to putting out the minimally viable version. Not the software that I’ll stick with for years, just the version that I can share and get feedback on, like today.

Sometimes it helps to take the pressure off. Create the MVP and allow it to be less than your ideal.

Speaking of taking too much time, this book has been on my nightstand since last September, not because it’s a dense or difficult; it’s actually the exact opposite.

Building a Story Brand is very actionable. It reads like an in-depth workbook, and if you’re tired of AI spitting out paragraphs that don’t sound like you, then you should definitely start with StoryBrand.

Donald Miller’s central idea is that your messaging should make your customer the hero of their own story. The most effective marketing clearly places your customer at the center, with you as the guide that takes them to where they want to go.

It’s way more fun to think of your brand’s story as a hero’s journey. Miller’s framework goes beyond analogy. It’s a strategy that you can use again and again.

Bookshop link if you want to read more!

Perfectionism will always find something new to optimize: the tech stack, the timeline, the "right" way to do it.

This week's mini is your permission slip: skip the strategizing, make the rough version, and let the feedback tell you what to fix.

And if you want backup while you build, the Steady Ads Cohort (see below) starts next week.

Stay Steady,
Molly

P.S. If "just start" is exactly what you needed to hear this week, the Steady Ads Cohort kicks off August 10. You don’t need to strategize or optimize on your own anymore (I’ve got that handled). You’ll be a part of a room of people building their MVP campaigns together.