From my years in coaching, I discovered something fascinating: while business owners face remarkably similar challenges regardless of size or industry, what makes each situation unique is not the problem itself, but the lens through which each owner views it.

This was illustrated by the unique perspective a business owner brought to the question of work-life balance. The owner had worked for 21 years in a niche space in the construction industry and been running his own business for 11 of those years.

While the business was running successfully, that success was built on the back of the owner working 60 plus hours a week in the business. Married with a young child, he acknowledged working those hours was not sustainable in the medium to long term. He also acknowledged he was “burning out,” which was impacting the time he was spending with his wife and child.

While this is a challenge common to many business owners, the unique part was that he not only acknowledged and understood the challenge, and knew the actions he should be taking, but was still only talking about the changes which were required. As I explored this further, the most illuminating part of the conversation was when he said:

“If I had a plan that would guarantee the outcome of a better work-life balance, I would be implementing it now, but I can’t find that plan!”

In that moment, I challenged the owner with the idea there was no such thing with the words of the World War II General George Patton:

“A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week!”

From that moment, the conversation shifted from developing the “perfect” plan to change his work-life balance, to identifying small, immediate steps he could take — though imperfect —to start the process of achieving better work-life balance.

The owner committed to making one immediate modest adjustment:  establishing a non-negotiable time after 7.00pm on Thursday evening to allow him to go out and enjoy time with his friends over video-gaming.  This was not new or revolutionary but something he could action straight away.

This experience reinforces what I see repeatedly in my coaching practice: Progress almost always comes from an imperfect action rather than perfect planning. The question is not “Is this the best possible solution?” but rather “Will this move me in the right direction?”