We've all done it. 

You sit down to write something important — maybe it’s an email to leadership, a first draft of your Statement of Work, or a reply to your CO.

You start strong. The idea is clear in your mind.

Then... It creeps in. 

 You pause. Tweak a word.

Reread the same sentence four times.
Delete a paragraph. Re-add it.
Walk away. Come back. Change the tone.
Second-guess the structure.

“Wait, does this sound too aggressive?”

“Am I missing something obvious?”

“Will they read this the way I intended?”

You finally hit send…

… only to open your sent folder and reread it one more time — and now? It reads like a completely different person wrote it.

You’re embarrassed. You scramble to retract it.
You even start wondering if you’re just bad at this.

But here's the truth: You're not bad at this. 

You’re just stuck in a trap almost every high-performing professional falls into:

The Illusion of Perfection.

🚨 The Problem Isn’t You — It’s the Bar You’re Trying to Reach 

Perfection feels like the goal.
But it’s a moving target with no finish line.
The better you get, the more you expect from yourself.
And the more you expect, the harder it is to feel like you “nailed it.”

I used to think that meant I wasn’t good enough.

Now? I understand it’s actually a sign of growth.

ENTER THE 90/10 RULE

Here’s how I’ve reframed my approach — to writing, to acquisition, to everything.

I call it the 90/10 Rule (some say 80/20 — same spirit, slightly different math).

The rule is simple:

- Give 100% effort.

- Accept 90% quality.

- Use the final 10% as fuel to grow.

That 10% “imperfection”?

It’s not failure.
It’s where the next level lives.

And when you let go of perfection and lean into iteration — you stop stalling… and you start building.

Real Talk: What This Looks Like in the Field 

Let me show you how this plays out for me — and for the hundreds of folks I’ve helped inside the government space:

📄 Drafting a PWS

• First draft? 90% clarity.

• A few tweaks needed? Sure.

• But I don’t let that 10% stall the mission.

• I build, review, and move forward. Then next time? It’s 92%. And rising.

📊 IGCE Development

• Missed a labor category detail? That’s feedback for the template I’ll use next time.

• I build that improvement into the next estimate.

• Progress. Not paralysis.

📬 Email to Leadership

• I’ve re-written acquisition emails 10+ times trying to get the “tone” right.

• These days? I hit my 90%, send it, and let the conversation move forward.

• It’s better to be responsive than be perfect.

🍕 Life Example — My Diet

• 5 days of clean eating… followed by one glorious, greasy pizza night.

• Did I “fail”? Nope. I hit 80–90% consistency, and that’s a win.

• The lesson I take from the pizza becomes the nudge to plan better next week.

• (My kids still forgive me. Eventually.)

🧰 This Isn’t About Lowering Standards — It’s About Setting Ones That Work

The 90/10 Rule doesn’t mean slacking off.
It means letting go of the idea that quality = perfection.

If you aim for perfection, you’ll stall.
If you aim for clarity and growth, you’ll ship better work — faster.

And the more you do that? The more momentum you build.

👇 Let’s Be Honest: Perfection Slows Everything Down

Ask any seasoned acquisition professional. The biggest time-killers aren’t:

❌ Funding delays
❌ Contractor issues
❌ Evaluation debates

They’re:

⚠️ Vague requirements
⚠️ Rewritten justifications
⚠️ Planning documents that stall for weeks because someone’s still “tweaking the language”

Want to

stand out?

Be the person who can write something solid, clear, and on time — without spiraling into endless editing.

That’s what this mindset gives you.

🧭 What’s Next: Apply the 90/10 Rule with a System That Supports It

Now that you’ve got the mindset — what would it look like to apply it to everything you touch in the acquisition process?

That’s exactly why I built the C2C Method.

The C2C Method shows you how to:

• Draft requirements that hit 90% clarity, faster

• Write evaluations that stand up to scrutiny without wasting time

• Build IGCEs that are defensible — even if they’re not flawless

• Plan smarter, review cleaner, and move faster

It’s built for people who want to get better — not stuck.

Not just COs. Not just PMs.
Anyone who touches acquisition and wants to improve without spinning their wheels.

💥 Here’s What I Want You to Remember

✅ Your goal is not perfection.
✅ Your goal is progress.
✅ You will grow fastest when you accept that 10% friction — and show up anyway.

You’ve already taken the first step by showing up here.

So keep going.

🚀 Want to Put the 90/10 Rule Into Action?

If this page helped you pause and say “Wow… this is exactly what I’ve been feeling,” — then the next step is simple:

Check Out the C2C Method For Free Below

It’s the same real-world, BS-free style — but built into a step-by-step system you can actually use in your day-to-day work.

Tools. Templates. Walkthroughs. And stories like this one, woven into everything.

Because this isn’t about theory — it’s about helping people like you show up and lead.

Even if it’s messy.
Even if it’s 90%.