The Problem with Polish

Stop polishing, start shipping. In the AI era, your competition builds in public, while you perfect in private. Momentum beats hesitation every time.

I’m half Polish, and the problem isn’t with my heritage—the problem is with polish.

The kind that keeps your work locked away. The kind that whispers “just one more edit” when you should be hitting publish. The kind that paralyzes more creators than failure ever could.

Polish is fear wearing the mask of craftsmanship.

We’ve convinced ourselves that endless refinement equals professionalism. That our work isn’t ready until it gleams. That rough edges are for amateurs.

Here’s what changed: Everyone else stopped waiting.

Right now, someone is using ChatGPT to draft their newsletter. Another is prompting Claude to debug their code and ship their app. Someone else just asked Gemini to outline their book. They’re all shipping today. Not next week. Not after “one more pass.” Today.

While you’re perfecting that gradient on your landing page, they’ve launched three products and learned what converts. While you’re refactoring for the fifth time, they’re serving customers with version 1.0 and iterating based on real feedback.

They’re learning. You’re polishing.

Perfect doesn’t teach you anything. Shipping teaches you everything. I know from experience. That’s why it’s called “perfecting your craft”—because true mastery comes from doing, not mentally preparing to do.

The reality these days is that entrepreneurs are not launching perfect startups anymore—they’re just launching and building in public. They share their bugs, celebrate their small wins, and document their pivots. Their imperfection becomes their authenticity. Their transparency builds trust faster than any polished pitch deck ever could.

The market doesn’t reward polish out of the gate anymore. It rewards the doers who start and establish a rhythm that compounds. Momentum beats hesitation. Doing beats deliberating.

In an era where AI helps everyone create at the speed of thought, the only competitive advantage is the speed of action.

Choose action.


What’s gathering dust on your hard drive while others build empires with half-finished ideas? Today’s the day to choose momentum over meditation.


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