BADASS MINDSET PODCAST

7 scenarios when QUANTITY is actually better than QUALITY (+ It's our 1 Year Podcastiversary!!!🥂✨)

• Lacy Wafer • Season 2 • Episode 54

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What if you could actually achieve more by focusing on quantity over quality? Today, we are celebrating ONE WHOLE YEAR of BADASS MINDSET PODCAST!!! And in this episode, we are reflecting on the journey of creating 52 episodes filled with highs, lows, and allll the lessons learned. 

Let me be an example for how embracing imperfect action has not only bolstered my confidence, but also shifted my approach from re-active to PRO-active, setting up a foundation for long-term success! This milestone episode is a testament to the power of persistence and sticking to your commitments even when self-doubt kicks in.

I lost over 75 lbs through the simple and persistent action of #dailymovement and this persistence mindset applies across various aspects of life. Whether you're a new writer, marketing connoisseur, or a social media content creator, you'll find that frequent practice outweighs isolated perfection. By prioritizing QUANTITY, you build momentum, refine your skills, and set yourself up for early success and continuous improvement.

Join me as we celebrate the strides we've made and look forward to the journey ahead! This episode is a heartfelt call to action, urging you to recognize your own commitment to self-improvement. Share what resonated with you by sending a DM on Instagram @boldlylacy, and let’s continue these meaningful conversations tailored to your interests. Together, let's keep embracing our inner badasses and look forward to more amazing wins!!

Share a personal story or submit a question you'd like answered in a future episode!

❤️‍🔥SUBSCRIBE to the podcast for weekly tips and insights to fuel your journey!⚡️

❤️‍🔥Add us on IG & TikTok @badassmindsetpodcast & @boldlylacy to connect deeper + ignite your journey and keep your growth game on point!!🤘🚀 Let’s goooo!

Speaker 1:

Hey babe, welcome, or welcome back to the Badass Mindset Podcast. I'm your host, laci, and I'm going to help you train your brain and your body to manifest groundbreaking levels of health, happiness and success in your life. I'm so fired up. You're here because it is time for us as a society to rewrite the outdated belief that wanting and achieving more is greedy, selfish or just wishful thinking. We're about to go on a deep dive into mindset mastery, where you'll learn all about how to rewire your brain, turn your setbacks into your success story and awaken the ultimate badass that lives within you. So if you're ready to create some serious magic and epic results in your life, take a quick minute to set an intention for what you want to get out of listening to this episode, and then let's fucking go. Welcome back, badass. I am so excited for today's episode and I'm grateful that you're here because we are celebrating a very special milestone.

Speaker 1:

Today that just passed September 18th was our one-year podcasting anniversary. I can, but I can't believe that this day finally came over what seemed like the longest and shortest at the very same time year of showing up week after week, releasing 52 episodes, minus the two pilot episodes that we've put out. 52 weeks of showing up every week and releasing at the same time every week on a schedule Just wow. It has been nothing short of amazing, challenging, exciting, scary, definitely expanding. In so many ways. I've had to show up when I didn't feel like it. I had to learn new technologies. I've had to really dig deep and do the work to embody the this level version of me in order to be consistent enough to make this happen and to reach this milestone. So this is such a huge thing for me because maybe you'll relate to this, but I used to struggle with finishing what I started. I'm really great at starting things Like so great, one of the greatest. I love starting new projects. I love having a fresh, clean slate where I get to be creative and come up with all these cool ideas and everything I'm going to do and I start off with such high energy and such high hope and expectation and then, once the excitement of the newness of this idea wears off and I started to get into the mundane and the everyday grind of continuing this thing and keeping it up, that energy and that excitement dies down and then it's really hard to keep showing up. So that's why I say I'm really great at starting things, but I used to really struggle with finishing things that I started.

Speaker 1:

But I made a commitment to myself when I started this podcast, because this was a dream for like three plus years before I finally said you know what? Fuck it, we're just going to hit, record, show up. I didn't even do a live launch. I literally just said you know what, if I put this off any longer, it's never going to happen. I'm never going to do it.

Speaker 1:

So I recorded the first episode, made it go live and I made a commitment that I'm going to stick to it for at least a year before I'm allowed to decide if I don't want to keep doing it or if I do. And I'm just going to say over the past year I have wanted to quit more times than I'm willing to admit. I've wanted to throw in the towel. I've wondered if what I'm doing is even worth it or if I'm meant to do this thing. I've questioned myself and I've questioned the vision to the point of wanting to burn it all down and say you know what? Nobody's making me do this. Nobody has a gun to my head saying if you don't record a podcast this week, your life is over, your family's lives are over. Everything and everyone that you care about and love is over. Nobody has held a gun to my head and made me show up and do this, but I just kept saying to myself every time I didn't feel like showing up Lacey, you're going to be so glad one day that you didn't give up. When somebody reaches out after just listening to an episode that changed their life or changed their mind about something and they thank you for doing that episode and for showing up and for pouring back into the world and making it a better place. You're going to be so glad that you didn't give up. You're going to be so glad that you recorded that day when you hit a milestone that you never imagined in your wildest dreams would come to you. You're going to be so glad that you kept going. You're going to be so proud of yourself. You're going to feel like such a fucking badass.

Speaker 1:

I just kept repeating this over and over and also remembering why I started in the first place, and that was just enough to fuel me through the next episode. Enough times to where now, a year later, I feel like I've really finally got the hang of this thing and I've finally found myself in a groove to where I'm being proactive instead of reactive, like there was a time during this last year I was releasing every Wednesday at this time. Now it's every Monday. I was releasing every Wednesday at this time, now it's every Monday.

Speaker 1:

I was releasing every Wednesday and for a solid two to three months I was struggling to show up and to just record something and I was procrastinating so hard and questioning myself to the point where I was showing up on Tuesday evening like fuck, I've got to record something to come out tomorrow. If I don't record, there's not going to be anything for tomorrow morning. And I dug just deep enough to remind myself of the vision of the commitment that done is better than perfect and to just show up, to just start recording and let whatever needs to come through come through, to take my ego out of it and to just show up. And I did get something out every Wednesday on time. But my point in telling you that being, after showing up every single week for 52 weeks, I finally can say that I feel like I'm in a groove and I've got this thing down. I'm in creation mode, I am in proactive mode rather than reactive mode and it feels so fucking good.

Speaker 1:

But this never would have happened, this day would have never come if I did not keep showing up, keep believing long enough for things to get good. This is so powerful so many people in this world, maybe you have so much potential. You have an amazing idea, an idea that would change the whole freaking world, would impact so many people's lives for the better, and you've built up enough courage to maybe start the thing, but you quit too early to see things actually get good, to see the ROI and the benefit that it really has on the people's lives that you want to help. How many things have you quit too early or given up on before you had the chance to see it get good, before you had the chance to see it play out? That's kind of the theme of this episode. I wanted to share something with you that kind of changed my whole perspective on being of value, doing something major in the world and being really good at what I do.

Speaker 1:

So there's this well-known illustration from a book called Art and Fear by David Bales and Ted Orland. That describes a ceramics class where the instructor divided the students in the class into two groups. Now the challenge was to create the best and highest quality pot that they could create over a span of 30 days. They were taught how to do it and they were going to be graded on their quality. The first group was graded on the quantity of pots they produced, while the second group was graded solely on the quality of a single pot that they had to perfect over the course of the whole semester. Now here's the crazy thing At the end of the term, the highest quality pots, surprisingly, were produced by the group tasked with focusing on quantity. Maybe you've heard of this study before or maybe this is new to you, but I want you to understand the magnitude of what I'm saying right now. The students who made the most pots and spent less time on being perfect and really visualizing it to its fullest magnitude, making every little stroke and move perfectly. They flipped and turned as many pots as they could and somehow produced a better pot at the end. So what this outcome demonstrates is that the process of repetitive practice actually led to a better understanding and refinement of their craft, which caused them to surpass the group that spent the exact same amount of time just theorizing about perfection. Mind-blown emoji.

Speaker 1:

I freaking love this story, because how often have we heard the phrase quality over quantity, right? Nobody cares about quantity if the quality sucks. In a lot of cases, like a relationship or personal hygiene products, I will have to agree yes, quality over quantity. You'd rather have one solid partner than a dozen mediocre at best partners, right, obviously. But I wanted to use this episode to bring a few scenarios where quantity is actually better than quality, because I think that phrase quality over quantity is so ingrained in our brains that sometimes we forget showing up imperfectly sometimes is the best action you could take that's going to produce the best results. So here's a few scenarios to hopefully spark some ideas for you where quantity is actually better than quality.

Speaker 1:

Number one exercise and fitness. Now, you've all heard of this one. I love giving the exercise and fitness example with just about everything, because it applies to literally everyone and it also spills over into so many other areas of our life regimen. Showing up consistently and doing the workouts, regardless of how small or imperfectly, matters so much more than a perfectly complete or intense workout session. I lost over 75 pounds, of which the first 50 I never stepped foot inside of a gym. All I did was what I now call daily movement, where I walk at least 15 minutes a day. That's it. If I have the energy and the motivation to do more, I would, but if I don't, my bare minimum commitment was to show up every single day and walk for 15 minutes, and building that habit of consistently showing up helped me to lose over 75 pounds. I didn't do some intense six-week boot camp or at some hardcore hour-a-day workout, restrictive nutrition plan, nothing like that, just the absolute bare minimum of what I could give every single day, and it changed my life. So that's one example.

Speaker 1:

Example number two if you're a writer for new writers especially, writing more often, regardless of the perceived quality, helps build discipline, it encourages creativity and it hones in on your skills through that repetition. And here's a fun little stat for you For most authors, it takes at least three books before your first one gets published. So are you really going to spend the next four years of your life writing and editing, and editing, and editing and perfecting that first book? Like, is that the only book you want to write? If so, cool, whatever, do your thing. But if you want to be a well-known author, or you want to hit a bestseller list, or you really want that book to blow up. It's usually not an author's first book that blows up. It's their fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh and so on. So getting that repetition in really matters and really is going to help you more than perfecting the first and only version of what you have.

Speaker 1:

Example number three learning a new language. Quantity is so much more helpful than quality. Going deep on a learning app or a program or course to learn the language but to never actually use it is not going to help you as much as immersing yourself in the language and the culture and practicing listening to people, speaking with people making the mistakes, so that you learn from them, because you're more likely to remember when you've been corrected or when you did something wrong and people look at you like what did you just say? And they correct you. You're gonna learn better than if you just go deep into this rabbit hole on Babbel or Rosetta Stone or whatever other platform or program. You're just not gonna learn as well than if you immersed yourself and got the practice and the repetition. Example number four this will probably apply to most of you listening, social media and content creation. I wish I could shout this from the rooftops.

Speaker 1:

This one is a bit more controversial because you've probably seen a lot of influencers say quality over quantity. If you're putting out a post every single day that sucks and doesn't provide value and nobody wants to see or listen to, you're not going to get the outcome you want. You need to actually provide value, and posting two or three times a week providing immense value is more valuable than posting seven times a week mediocre at best content. And we can go back and forth and down the rabbit hole on which one is actually better. But let me direct your attention right back to the ceramics class example. Think long-term here. Think big picture. Are you really posting on social media for a quick come up, for some quick cash? I mean, who does that really work for? Let's be honest, most of you.

Speaker 1:

If you are trying to post on social media for a business or for a brand or community that you're trying to build, this is a long-term goal. This is something that you plan on doing for a really long time. So in the beginning, especially worrying about being perfect at it, being perfectly curated, perfect aesthetic, perfect copy, perfect everything all you're doing is holding yourself up. You're not going to get the visibility you need if you only post once or twice a week, even if it is perfect content, you're not going to get enough traction In the beginning. You've got to really get eyeballs on your stuff and you're not going to get that if you're only posting once or two or three times a week because you're trying to make them perfectly curated posts. And on the flip side of that, the more you practice, the more you post, the more refined your message is going to become, the quicker you're going to get at making content. It's not going to take you an hour to curate a post, like it did me in the beginning, so embarrassing. You'll be able to produce content faster and it's going to get better quality over time because now you're going to have enough quantity out there to really see metrics and data. That gives you an idea of what's working and what's not and you'll come to know what you're doing and be really good at it a lot faster because you get more reps in. So that's another example.

Speaker 1:

Example number five sales and marketing. I'm going there With sales. Making more calls and sending more emails, even if they aren't perfectly crafted, will lead to more overall sales than fewer and more refined pitches. Why? Because sales and marketing most of the time is a numbers game. I'm not saying that better sales skills and better marketing skills won't ultimately lead to better leads and more leads and better clients and a higher closing rate. But in the beginning especially, it really is a numbers game. And if you don't get enough practice and enough numbers in to actually see the patterns and track the data, then you have no idea what to tweak or capitalize on, what you need to improve or what's doing really well, because you just don't have enough data to know the difference. If you only have two sales calls and you close one, then you might think, oh, wow, I have a 50% closing rate. But if you had 200 sales calls and closed 20, well, now you have a 10% closing rate. You also have a lot more data to review and see. Okay, so what is it about these 20 that closed? What was that thing that might have come up in that conversation that they said really made the difference for them? And what were the common rejections and hesitations with the 180 that didn't close, that did not move forward? Okay, let's see how we can address these quicker. So, one, we don't waste time on calls with these people and, two, we can overcome these objections before they're a problem, before they even come up right.

Speaker 1:

Quantity over quality Gotta get your reps in. Example number six any type of art or creative work. For artists, more often than not, producing a large volume of work will lead to discoveries of new techniques, new styles and better quality than meticulous planning and slow production. Just goes right back to the pottery class. The more pots they made, the better they got at it than the ones who spent an immense amount of time perfecting the one pot. The more you do something, the more natural it is for your mind-muscle memory. No-transcript. The last example I'm going to give is public speaking. If anybody here aspires to speak on stages or on podcasts or in communities or coaching containers, this is a huge one where I must emphasize quantity over quality, especially in the beginning. Engagements, regardless of the size or the importance of the audience, builds confidence and improves your skills so much more effectively than waiting for a perfectly crafted opportunity. We just use this podcast as an example.

Speaker 1:

I am so beyond embarrassed by my first at least dozen episodes, and I knew it while I was recording them. I think I actually said in the very first pilot that this is probably going to sound so bad and if it is, don't make fun of me yet. We're going to laugh together in a few months when I've gotten better and I've improved. But I'm getting out of my own way right now and I'm just showing up, I'm hitting record and I'm doing the thing. And look at me now, a year later, 52 weeks later, 52 episodes in. I feel so much more confident behind the mic. My voice is so much smoother, my story's clearer, more impactful. I mean, I don't know. You tell me, have you listened to any of the early episodes? If you haven't, go back and listen. Feel free to laugh at me and make fun of me and tell me how much I sucked. I won't take offense to it because at the same time, look at me now. I know I've gotten better. I know my message has gotten clearer. I know I'm making a greater impact.

Speaker 1:

Time Quantity over quality. In the beginning, just show up, get your reps in. There's no way for you to get better if you don't show up and get your reps in. I'm a big basketball fan, so if you are too, this is going to land. If not, just try to imagine with me. If you've never picked up a basketball before, you would not expect to go in the gym and make a hundred free throws in a row if you've never touched a basketball before. How silly would that be? You can sit there for an hour visualizing your stroke, perfecting your walk-up routine, setting your feet and curating exactly how you're going to shoot the ball, but if you've never shot it before, there's a slight chance that ball's going in the net and maybe you get lucky. Maybe you hit on the first shot, maybe you hit on the first three or five or 10 shots, but you ain't going to hit 100 shots if you never shot a basketball before. I'm just saying how unrealistic is that? I'm like, I'm not one to not believe that Delulu is the Salulu, but in this case I mean really delusion ain't going to get it done for you.

Speaker 1:

You got to put in the reps. If you show up to the gym every day and you put up 100 shots a day, every day, for three months, at the end of three months you're going to be a lot better, a lot more consistent than you were on day one, right? So you get the picture here. Keep showing up, keep putting in the reps and, for crying out loud, stop quitting before you have the chance to actually see things get good. Stop giving up on your dream too early. Just because it wasn't a major hit right out of the gates doesn't mean that you're not meant for it and that you're destined for failure or that that idea is doomed. You just got to keep showing up, keep putting in the reps. You will get better If you sit with yourself and you know in your heart of hearts and your gut that this thing is for you, that you have a bigger mission, a bigger purpose for this goal that you have.

Speaker 1:

You're not sure how you're going to make it happen or how you're going to get there yet, but you know that this is something you want to do or create. Then you have to just keep going and keep reminding yourself quantity over quality got to put my reps in. I'm going to be so proud of myself when I finally get there. It's going to be worth it when I experience that outcome that I've been waiting for. And I want to make very clear that I'm not saying there's never a time to give up or pivot If something is not for you, if you've changed your mind on something, not because you don't think it's possible anymore, because that's not actually what you want anymore or that's not actually the route you want to take anymore.

Speaker 1:

There is a very big difference. But you have to know in your gut that you're not changing this goal because you don't believe you're worthy of it or that you can achieve it. You're changing it because it's not aligned anymore. And if that's the case, of course, change the plan of action, change the direction you're going. That makes sense. It'd be stupid to keep doing something that you know isn't for you anymore. How many of us stay in relationships that we know we're not supposed to be in anymore? They've outlived their expiration date but we're still holding on. For what? So that we can stay loyal, so that we can say we saw it through. For what you know it's not for you anymore. There's a difference. Know the difference and know.

Speaker 1:

If you still have a really big desire for this thing to see itself through and to become this wildly successful thing that you envision, then you've got to keep showing up. Keep putting in the reps, be willing to suck long enough to get good. Keep putting in the reps, be willing to suck long enough to get good and be willing to not give up before you have a chance to see things get really good. Because, baby, I can't guarantee how fast things are going to go and I can't guarantee how far things are going to go. But what I can guarantee is, if you do not give up, you keep putting in the reps, you keep adjusting your plan of action based on the data you're receiving about what's been working and what hasn't. You just keep showing up and keep going. You will get the outcome you're looking for. I know and believe that wholeheartedly and I'm rooting for you. So root for yourself by not giving up. Okay, can we all agree on that? All right, oh, my God, I love you. This was so cool.

Speaker 1:

And to think that I did not feel like showing up for this episode. I didn't even turn on the video record this time because I was having resistance about showing up and I was like you know what? I'm making this too difficult. I am not keeping simple things simple. I'm overwhelming myself with everything I've got to do to get this episode recorded. So I decided no video, no notes, no, nothing. I'm just going to go and hit record and pour out and do the damn thing. I'm actually recording this a week later than I wanted to. I wanted to release this episode as like a bonus, surprise episode on Wednesday of last week, on the 18th of September, when it was the actual one year anniversary.

Speaker 1:

But I was having so much resistance and I had all these things going on, so I ended up just saying, ok, lacey, we're just going to do it, we're just going to hit record, we're not going to perfectly curate this thing, we're just going to do it, and what comes out will be what needs to come out, what people need to hear. And I'm really proud of myself because now I feel really inspired and energized by the message and it is a little bit longer than I intended on it being, but I am not upset about that. I hope you're not. I hope it was worth it for you too, and if even one person got any value from this, then it was all worth it. I mean, I got value from this, so it's already worth it. I got value because I gained another rung on my confidence ladder, because I showed up and I did the thing that I committed to. There's nothing more powerful than that showing up for your commitments to yourself and believing in yourself.

Speaker 1:

So I hope you loved this episode and, in honor of our one-year podcasting anniversary. I have the perfect way for you to celebrate with me If you would take less than 30 seconds on whatever platform you're listening to this episode on, go and leave a five-star review for the show. Let me know your favorite takeaway aha moment, breakthrough moment, anything valuable that you got out of it and if you want to take it a step further, share this episode on your social media. Tag me in it at Boldly Lacey or at Badass Mindset Podcast and let me know your favorite takeaway there as well. I'll share it on my stories as well, and we'll continue building this community of badasses together that we get to go on this journey, with this journey of becoming the very best version of ourselves, the most bold and badass version of ourselves, and building the version of our life and lifestyle that lights us the fuck up and that we wake up looking forward to every single day and are so, so, so grateful for that. It's actually our reality.

Speaker 1:

I'm so grateful that you're here and I'm so excited for all the amazing wins that we have to look forward to together. Thank you so much for being here and, queen, give yourself a high five for showing up and committing to be the best version of yourself for you and your people. You are such a badass for that. If you got anything good from this episode, would you send the love back by DMing me on Instagram at Boldly Lacey, letting me know exactly which part resonated with you. These types of messages empower me to keep showing up, and they also help me understand the types of conversations you really care about. All right, bestie, we'll talk again soon, but for now, it's time for you to step up and start being the badass that we both know you are.