SSS #140: ✅ Done is Better Than Perfect

Newsletter

Livin La Vida Luna

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So far, Luna hasn't passed up a chance to hold baby bro.

The past 4 weeks have been challenging. Luca is eating every few hours around the clock and Luna is hitting the prime of her terrific 2’s.

As someone who thrives off optimized routines and habits, I’ve been forced to accept a new, albeit temporary, reality: done is better than perfect.

For now, getting 8 hours of sleep at night is a pipe dream. But a middle-of-the-day nap (or two) helps me get the amount of sleep I need to keep going.

There’s simply not enough time to make my regular breakfast burrito anymore. Now my first meal of the day looks like Luna’s leftovers (if she's not sick) and a bagel with cream cheese.

We also canceled our Panera Coffee Club membership. It's homemade Trader Joe’s instant coffee for me and Chamomile tea for Dia for the time being.

As for my morning workout, Ha - I’d rather catch as many Z’s as possible before either kid wakes up.

If I can get work done early, however, I’ll hit the gym at 3:30p before leaving to go pick Luna up from school at 4:00p. 30 minutes is enough to hit a 1,500-meter row, five sets of five for one heavy compound movement and three sets of eight for three accessory movements.

I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m complaining because I’m actually grateful for this experience. Mainly because this done is better than perfect attitude has bled into my work as well.

For example, we listed our Duplex in Westfield for $550K and originally accepted an offer for $600K.

The appraisal came back at $518K and the buyer wasn’t willing to make up the difference. Instead of dropping the buyer and going back to the market, we asked what it would take for the buyer to move forward with the deal.

They requested a purchase price adjustment down to $555K. Despite the $45K haircut, we agreed and moved forward. Thankfully, we’re set to close this week on 6/3/22. It’s not ideal to leave that much value on the table, but the bird in hand was worth the two in the bush.

As far as my new construction project goes, we’ve been holding off submitting construction permits because we don’t have finalized plans yet. However, we took a major step forward by submitting for demolition and should be receiving our approvals to take down the house by mid-June. It’s not everything we need, but it’s enough to get the ball rolling for now.

Even this newsletter has fallen prey to done is better than perfect. Instead of weekly YouTube videos, or helpful real estate investing content, I’ve mostly been sharing blog-style updates on my personal and professional life.

I spent the first few weeks of May struggling to accept this new reality, but I finally came around to the idea of this all being a speed bump in the road of the marathon that is life. And honestly, I can afford to loosen the screws on myself.

I wonder if I end up going back to my neurotic self once things settle down with Luca or if this is the next stage of growth for me as a person…

It’s weird to think about it like that. On the surface, it feels like I’m giving up my edge. But if I dig deep, accepting the idea of done being better than perfect feels relieving more than anything else.