Your perfectionism is holding you back – in more ways than one. You don’t need another degree or the latest and greatest camera to get started. Waiting for the right set of circumstances is just you letting fear take over your life again, and if you want to manifest your goals, we have to do the work to overcome that fear. 

Perfectionism is nothing more than fear of not being good enough. Perfectionism is us trying to control the outcome of any given scenario. We are trying to prove ourselves, and because we are trying to prove ourselves, rather than believing that we are already worthy, we are tying our worthiness to the success of this goal. That isn’t going to get us anywhere. To manifest our dream lives, we need to overcome perfectionism. 

In this week’s episode, we’re talking about the #1 strategy to help you overcome perfectionism and manifest your goals. Manifesting from a place of fear isn’t going to give you the results you want. So in this episode, we’re going to work through a few different scenarios with the best strategy you can use to overcome that habit of perfectionism. 

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How to work with Erika:

Sign up for the FREE webinar, Make 2026 Your Main-Character Year, here!

Join the waitlist for the Courage Driven Latina program here.

Join the waitlist for the Magnetic Mastermind here!

Podcast production for this episode was provided by CCST, an Afro-Latina-owned boutique podcast production and copywriting studio. 

Episode Transcript:

Erika: Hello, friends. Welcome back to this [00:01:00] week’s episode of Chingo Nat Revolution podcast. This is your host, Erika Cruz, and today I want to share with you the number one strategy that has helped hundreds of my clients as well as myself overcome perfectionism and manifest their goals. When we think about a goal that we have, it can be so easy to put it off and to procrastinate.

And we can do things like watch a YouTube video or open up a bunch of different tabs of research. But unless you are taking action that somebody outside of you can see, you’re kind of spinning out and you’re not really taking action. And one of the repeated things that I have heard over and over, and I’ve been a coach for five years at this.

Point. So I’ve coached hundreds of women in manifesting their dream life and in executing their dream projects, which we call courage projects inside of my program. And the reoccurring themes are this [00:02:00] perfectionism and wanting to have everything planned out perfectly before taking the first step. But the thing is that we cannot plan.

Our entire business plan or our entire goals, because we don’t know what may come up along the way. And especially when you are in this place where you have a desire to do something, but you don’t have full clarity, it’s impossible to understand the full picture. Now I can tell you how my business came about.

Now I can tell you how this podcast came about, but on day one, there was no way that I could have guessed what route it was going to take to get here. And if you think back to your life when you’ve manifested something, because we’ve all manifested things that we absolutely love, whether it’s a dream job or at least at the moment, it was a dream job, right?

Doesn’t mean it’s still a dream job now, but [00:03:00] maybe a partner, maybe a big accomplishment, maybe getting your master’s, maybe, um, getting a specific certificate. And if you think back to day one. There was no way that you could have known the journey was going to be the way it was. So I hear from a lot of people, I, I’m just a perfectionist, or I just don’t wanna make the wrong decision, or I don’t want to mess up, I don’t want other people to judge me.

And these are all very valid fears. And sometimes people wear this perfectionist badge, like, oh, you know, I’m just a perfectionist. It needs to be good. And they wear it like this badge of honor. I wanna give you a little bit of a hard truth today, and this hard truth is that perfectionism is nothing more than fear of not being good enough.

Ooh, let me say that one more time. Perfectionism is nothing more than fear of not being good enough. When we get into perfectionism, we are trying to control the outcome. We are [00:04:00] trying to prove ourselves. We are almost putting our worthiness on the success of this goal. So I want you to think about a goal that you have. Maybe it’s starting a podcast. Maybe it’s creating content. Maybe it is working on your confidence. Maybe it is learning to make sourdough bread. Maybe one day you wanna have a coffee shop, whatever that goal or that desire is of yours. And maybe you’ve been procrastinating and you’ve been putting it off.

But you think about it, right? It’s something that maybe you dream about, maybe you journal about, maybe you find yourself doing some research about it. You may have gotten to a place where you’re like, okay, I’m ready to do something. But then when we say we’re ready to do something, what that doing looks like a lot of times is putting roadblocks in front of ourselves.

Like, oh, I need to get a certification first. Or, oh, I need to have complete clarity before I can get started, or. I just need to do more research. [00:05:00] And then what happens when we do research is that the more research we do, the more we realize there is to learn, and then we just get stuck in the research phase, right?

And we’re just digging a bigger hole for ourselves. Okay, so now let’s look at two different examples. We’re gonna look at example A and example b. A is gonna be Amy. These are, um, fake people that I’m making up here. B is gonna be Bella. Okay, so let’s say that Amy is a perfectionist and she is going to take all of her time to do research and create the most perfect plan, and Amy wants to create content.

I think we all know what content is nowadays, so that’s just an easy example, but please fill in the gap with whatever your goal is, whatever desire it is that you have. So Amy wants to create content, but she’s a perfectionist, so she is overthinking her Instagram name or her TikTok name. She’s overthinking her username, and then [00:06:00] she’s overthinking what kind of content she wants to create.

And then she’s like, well, do I need gear? So she maybe goes to Amazon or maybe does research and starts reading blogs about the best cameras to use for content. And then she’s like, oh, wait, but now I have to edit. So before I even get started, now I have to go buy a camera, buy editing software. But before I can start, now I have to learn the editing software.

Now I have to learn how to use the camera. And then, oh my goodness, what if I make a. And what if I am making content for the wrong ideal client? Do you see what I mean about research and how it can just dig us into a deeper hole? So Amy thinks that she’s being very proactive, but she’s actually putting more and more roadblocks ahead of her.

So now let’s look at B Bella example. B. So Bella decides I wanna create content. I don’t even know exactly who this is for. I know that I have a phone and my phone has a camera and I can record videos. So I’m just gonna get started on [00:07:00] stories and I’m just going to start sharing my journey as I am learning how to make.

Coffee and maybe as I start sharing my journey for coffee, then I can talk about why I really love coffee and how coffee comes from a lot of different places in Latin AmErika and how we need to be really intentional with the kind of coffee that we buy based on how the employers are, how the employees are treated, and whether it’s actually ethically sourced and the different flavor profiles.

And so she starts creating stories. About how she’s learning to make coffee and then starts talking about the different sources of coffee. Then people really start enjoying it. They’re like, wow, I had no idea. I’ve been buying this coffee. Now I’m gonna switch to this coffee. Thank you for letting me know.

Maybe they start asking her questions, so then she gets more in depth and maybe eventually she makes her own little coffee mugs and maybe she starts selling coffee mugs. Do you see the difference? [00:08:00] And then maybe when she starts really getting more traction, she starts not just doing Instagram stories.

Maybe she starts doing lives or maybe reels, or maybe she starts a podcast and then she buys camera, a camera and gear, and then improves her quality as she goes. Do you see the difference between, I forgot the first person’s name. Was it Amy? Yeah, Amy and Bella. That is the difference between waiting to be ready and being stuck in perfectionism.

That was Amy and Bella who was like, let’s just go for it. Let’s see what happens. Let’s start messy. Let’s start imperfectly and see where it goes. So the strategy that I wanna show you all today, or that I wanna teach you all is something that I learned when I worked in the tech industry. In the tech industry, there is something called an MVP.

It’s called a minimum viable product. Building technology is really expensive. If you know any engineers, they are very well [00:09:00] paid, and if you are going to build a piece of software. You don’t wanna build it and then see if it works, right? Because let’s say that, let’s just go back to Amy as the example.

Let’s say that Amy goes and gets a camera and does all these things and learns the software, and then she starts creating the content. And then she’s like, you know what? I actually don’t wanna do this. I actually don’t like being on camera. I wanna do a podcast instead. If Amy would’ve started imperfectly without all of those extra things, she wouldn’t have spent time, money on this equipment that she ended up not using.

So back to the technology example, the tech industry is smart. They know that they don’t want to invest a lot of money in something that may not work or may not be a good fit. So they started something called the minimum viable product, which was pretty much the fastest, cheapest way of testing out if.

This technology was going to work or not, [00:10:00] before they put a bunch of resources behind it. And this is how I want you to think about your goals inside of Courage driven Latina. If you are a client, this is the framework that we call ghetto First draft. So inside of my program we have a step-by-step framework that supports you in doing this for today.

I’m going to explain what it is and I’m going to give you some examples. So, let me give you a non-technology example that I think will really resonate. And, but it started with, with the tech industry. So I think we all know the company, Zappos. I mean, I don’t even know how big they are anymore, but they were the first online shoe store, and this was back in the nineties.

So, I don’t even remember this, but. I wasn’t shopping for shoes in the nineties online, but they were the first, I wanna say it was like 99 and they were the first online shoe retailer. And the thing is that the founder of Zappos could have gone to go rent out a warehouse, which are very [00:11:00] expensive.

Warehouses are not cheap. He could have gone to go buy all the shoes. That he had on his website in all the sizes so that they would be available for customers. And that’s what maybe, you know, you and I would think if we’re like, oh yeah, we’re gonna start an online shoe store. But this founder took that strategy from technology from hi his mv.

He took that MVP strategy from the tech industry and implemented it into a shoe business. And this is what he did. So instead of stocking the warehouse with all of the shoes and all of the sizes, he actually waited for somebody to place an order online. And when they placed an order online for the shoe, he would go to Nordstrom’s or go to a department store, buy the shoe, and then ship it out. Mind blowing. Okay, so this is such a smart strategy because rather than investing all this money up front, what he was doing, he was simply testing out his idea. He was [00:12:00] making sure that it would work, making sure that he liked it, making sure that there was demand for this. And once there was, they got themselves some warehouses and they stocked up on shoes.

So how does this translate for you? I’m gonna give you some examples from clients of mine and how they implemented this strategy to create the most low effort version of their projects to see if it was something that they enjoyed and something that they wanted to do. Okay, so I have one client whose goal is to open up a coffee shop. I’ve actually had about three clients who want to open up coffee shops, and I think it’s a great idea, but if we really are looking at what it takes to open up a coffee shop, if you have a physical store, then you are typically signing a lease for at least a year.

You also have to buy all the equipment cups. I mean, it’s very much upfront investment. [00:13:00] So in order for us to test out if this client enjoyed this or not, rather than going through all that trouble without having tested it, we got her out of this perfectionism mentality and out of planning by hosting.

Coffee brunches for her closest friends and where she was making the drinks, where she was testing out recipes and seeing how she liked it. And then with another client, her kind of first version of this project was actually going to farmer’s markets, seasonal farmer’s markets where she would just do her popup.

Yes, she still needed equipment, but she wasn’t paying for a lease. She wasn’t open all day, every day. The, the farmer’s market was only during the summer months, the spring and the summer months, so she was still able to do some travel on the other months, and that is how we got her out of this perfectionism mentality and found a way for her to start this project that was very low effort.[00:14:00] 

Let’s say that you want to do a career pivot. Well, you might think what you need to do is go take classes, go do certifications, um, start applying, and then just kind of seeing if it works out. Well with my clients who are looking to go from one industry to another and doing something very different, what I’ve actually supported them in, in doing through the framework that we have inside of our program is either volunteering at a company, if it’s possible, right?

Like let’s say that’s a nonprofit. They could go and volunteer and get an understanding of that role. Do just like maybe two or three days of free work, volunteer work. It’s also allowing them to see if that’s the industry that they even want to transition into. Another one is, one of my clients ended up doing informational interviews with people in the industry that she wanted to change to so that she got so much more insight before making the jump.

Do you see how this wasn’t like, oh, I’m gonna go take all these classes and now I’m [00:15:00] gonna, oh man, I have to go back to school and get my master’s? No. It was getting out of that perfectionism mentality and thinking, how is it that I can. Start right now. Another example is I had a client who wanted to start a podcast and she, I’ve actually had many clients who want to start podcasts.

This is why we have a podcast course in my programs now because it’s such a, honestly, my podcast has been such a game changer for my business, for my community, just the way that I get to connect with people. So I think podcasts are not, it’s not too late for a podcast. We definitely need more voices on podcasts who have.

An intention of giving back and making an impact. So if you have that interest, don’t be discouraged because you think there’s already maybe too many out there. So for the podcasts, what my clients were typically doing is they were like, well, I better get my mic. Oh, great. Now I have to figure out exactly what name I want.

Oh, now I have to do this, and then I [00:16:00] better take another course. And then what about this? Oh, I better hire somebody to go help me with this. So. The way that we find the most, the the way that we’re using this strategy, which inside of courage driven Latina, we call it the ghetto first draft, because personally I think that is so much funner than MVP minimum viable product.

So the ghetto first draft for people who want to start podcasts is not go buy a mic. It’s not, go figure out what your podcast name is. Nope. It’s simply start doing Instagram lives. Start interviewing people. Start talking about what you would want to talk about on the podcast. Just get started. And what this does for people is it allows them to see if they like it, if there’s interest for it.

It gives them clarity on what it is that they’re gonna talk about. Because it wasn’t like they were starting, it wasn’t like they’re starting the podcast from scratch anymore. Now they’re like, oh yeah, I did this Instagram live series and it did really well. I think I want my podcast to be about that. It is so informational.

[00:17:00] Another example is, wanting to start a coaching business. So typically whenever people wanna start a coaching business, they’re immediately like, oh, I better go get certified. Oh, I, who am I to coach people? And they get stuck in this research and they have this desire and they see all these coaches online.

But what I support my clients in doing is taking on complimentary clients just for the first few weeks so that they can build their confidence. So they could see they already have something to offer. So they can see if they even like coaching people. And some of them do this and then they’re like, so glad I did that.

Don’t wanna go that route anymore. I actually wanna do this other thing. And then other people do it and they’re like, I’m so glad you made me do that. I don’t feel like I need a certification to start. I can get a CER certification later if I want to grow this more. Another one is, just creating content so people get so wrapped up in content.

And I get it even like, even I get wrapped up in content sometimes, [00:18:00] So for content. A lot of people think, okay, just like the examples I said earlier, oh, I need to get the editing software.

I need to get the camera. No, it is 2026. As long as you have a smartphone, that’s all you need. Clean your lens a little bit, right? Try to have a clean background. Don’t do it in a messy area. Try to stand in front of a window. That’s all you need. That’s literally all I use Now. I do not have a professional camera.

I just use my phone so people think they need, you know, the editing software, all of the different things. Well, what if your ghetto first draft, as we call it here, or your MVP, was, I’m only going to post stories that way. I don’t even have to worry about editing, and I just get comfortable posting and I see if it’s something I like.

Next would be confidence. So sometimes people are like, oh, I really wanna work on my confidence, but I’m going to wait until my skin clears up. Or I’m going to wait until, until I lose weight, or I’m going to wait until I get this degree and then I feel better [00:19:00] about myself. Confidence starts on the inside, y’all not on the outside.

And one of the ways that I support my clients too. Overcome perfectionism and start working on their confidence now is simply by doing daily mindset work. Literally daily journaling. Daily journaling, where they get to appreciate themselves today. I’m grateful for my capable body that allowed me to go on a walk today.

Today, I’m grateful that I’m intelligent and reminding yourself who it is that you are. It doesn’t have to be this crazy thing. You don’t have to go get Botox. You don’t have to go do any of these other things. You get to be confident from the inside out and using strategies like the ghetto first draft allow you to overcome perfectionism.

And allows you to start taking action right now. No more procrastination. No more. Oh my gosh. I have to figure out the whole thing. So hopefully this podcast resonated [00:20:00] with you. Think about that thing that you’ve been wanting to manifest and think about what roadblocks have you been putting in front of yourself?

Have you been telling yourself you need a certification, you need more research, you need to learn a specific skill. And what if that wasn’t true? What if there was a ghetto first draft, as we call it, inside of my program, that allowed you to get started today and that step is going to lead you to the next and the next and the next steps.

Do not be like Amy, in my example, be like Bella. Start before you’re ready because you’re never going to get to this place where you feel ready. And if this podcast resonated with you, join me for my free webinar. It’s happening on November 10th. It’s all about how to make 2026, your main character year.

In other words, how to overcome the perfectionism, how to manifest the year that you want, how to really be the main character of your life because so many of us are prioritizing other people’s needs. [00:21:00] Rather than our own. So if you’re like, no, like this has to be my year. Maybe 2025 didn’t go exactly the way you wanted.

It’s not too late. You can still turn 2025 around and you can still start 2026 on a new note. I can’t wait to see you there. The link to join us is down below in the show notes and share this video with a friend. If you know a friend also has a desire, maybe they wanna start a podcast, maybe they wanna start a business, maybe they’ve been wanting to work on their confidence.

Send them this podcast episode and I hope to see you all at the webinar Until next week. [00:22:00]