1. We should eat healthily and drink responsibly
2. We should recycle, reuse and reduce our consumption of waste products
3. We should be polite, have good manners and be ethical in everything we do
4. We should exercise regularly, floss daily and brush our hair one hundred times each night
5. We should stay within the speed limit, use crosswalks and avoid using mobile phones while driving

In email marketing, there are many things that we should do.

1. We should get permission and use double opt-in subscription practices
2. We should consider using horizontal menus rather than vertical ones
3. We should measure our campaigns using all available metrics and compile behavioral data
4. We should join email accreditation and authentication services to improve deliverability
5. We should format our messages with a growing mobile audience in mind

But in marketing, like in life, there is no perfection; and people are successful whether they abide by all of the things that they should be doing or not.

Sometimes, it’s best to avoid perfection in the pursuit of profit. To not get bogged down in the endless amount of shoulds and just get things done. Action yields results over time.

I’m not suggesting that you stop designing the mobile version of your email campaign or cancel your membership to the gym. I’m just saying that you can be successful even if you do. There is no standard recipe for success.