Ever since I received my first review 9 years ago, I've had a 5-star rating on Yelp. It's a huge reason why parents sign up their kids to take lessons with me, but it comes with a hidden price:

The price of perfection.

If you pay that price you start to ignore the things that make you a professional, the things that got you those 5 stars in the first place. Things like customer service, a dedication to your craft.

You develop an unhealthy obsession with the outcome, because a certain question always looms in the back of your mind:

"What if they give me a bad review?"

The only way to sidestep this trap is by following the correct process, no matter what happens. It's not easy, because this means you can do all the right things and still get bad results.

In fact, sometimes doing the right thing will guarantee a bad result.

(can you still do it?)

In my opinion, it beats the alternative:

Getting rewarded for following the wrong process.