Perfect is the Enemy of Progress, Persistence is the Key to Progress
The biggest misconception we have of those we admire who accomplish amazing goals is that they are perfect. There is a belief that these admirable people don’t have bad days. From the outside looking in it appears that people who have amazing bodies, minds, or accomplishments maintain a strict routine and never get off track. As much as it may seem this way, this is absolutely not reality.
The truth is everybody has bad days, even the people we admire most. What’s more, believing that someone’s success is a result of them being perfect is just another way to excuse yourself from not making more progress.
The fact is those who make the most progress understand that having a perfect routine is not the end all be all. Routines have streaks, and streaks end. Instead of focusing on maintaining the perfect routine, those who make the most progress focus on increasing the length of the routine streak. This means that the ability to make progress really only depends on your ability to keep trying to make progress. Which in turn implies not letting one or more bad days discourage you from continuing onward with starting a new routine streak.
In a word, persistence. Persistence is the key to progress not perfection.