Unpopular Opinion #1: Perfectionism Didn’t Make Taylor Swift a Success And It Won’t Help Your Shop Either

People love to say Taylor Swift is successful because she’s a perfectionist. But I think they’ve got it all wrong. Her real superpower? Action. Here's what shopkeepers can learn from the way she works and why I’m taking a leaf out of her book as I launch Smart Shopkeepers Club.

This time last year, my daughter and I couldn’t wait to start planning our outfits for the Eras Tour, so it’s on my mind again right now.

I remembered that around the same time, I read an article claiming Taylor Swift is so successful because she’s a perfectionist. But honestly? I don’t buy it.

Yes, she has incredibly high standards. And yes, she works harder than most of us can even imagine. But a perfectionist, by definition, is someone who keeps tweaking and reworking behind closed doors, never quite satisfied enough to put their work out into the world.

And that’s not what Taylor does.

Taylor creates something brilliant, releases it, and keeps going. She doesn’t let the fear of imperfection hold her back. When she didn’t win a Grammy for Red, she cried (good on her), then got up and said, “I’ll just have to make a better album.” And she did. She gave us 1989, a whole new era.

Perfectionism freezes people. Action propels people. Taylor chooses action.

That’s what I find so impressive. Not just her talent, but her grit. Her resilience. Her commitment to her craft. She doesn’t wait for perfect. She gets it as good as it can be, trusts herself, shares it with the world, and moves on to the next thing.

And if that isn’t a perfect metaphor for running a shop, I don’t know what is.

You can’t sit in the back room endlessly planning your future away or poring over spreadsheets looking for inspiration. Action doesn’t happen on paper. It happens on shop floors. And action is what gets results. You have to trust yourself, show up, put it out there, then watch, learn, tweak, and move forward. That’s how real momentum is built.

So no, I don’t think Taylor’s success is down to perfectionism. I think it’s down to determination. To self-belief. To a willingness to evolve. And most of all, to taking action.

And that’s exactly what I need to do too, here in this new Smart Shopkeepers Club world I’ve created for myself.

My personality type leans heavily towards being a crafter and a reworker. Many creative people are like this. Maybe you are too? But action is where the magic happens, so I’m pushing through the resistance and pressing publish on these blog posts.

They’re not perfectly crafted to my ultimate satisfaction. But they are good enough. They contain real value for shopkeepers, even if the turn of phrase isn’t always exactly what I hoped for. And that value only exists when I send the work out into the world.

So here I am, sitting on dozens of almost-finished blog posts and willing myself to just publish the damn things.

I’m letting Taylor be my inspiration. I’m choosing action. Some people might hate it. Some people might love it. That’s okay. My job is to keep putting the work out there regardless.

So here’s to the Smart Shopkeepers Club Era of my life. I can’t wait to share more perfectly imperfect action with you! 

That’s what we do as shopkeepers. We try something, learn from the results, and build on it. Not because we failed - but because this job never stops evolving.

If you're ready to take that next step - not perfect, just forward - the Smart Shopkeepers Starter Pack is here for you. Complete the quick and easy quiz here, for your free advice!

PS. You might notice that I took more photos of the Taylor themed shop windows than I did of the concert - what can i say, I’m a shopkeeper through and through!