Embracing “Good Enough”

In a world where the predominant focus is on the pursuit of the ever elusive standard of perfection, I would like to suggest an alternative approach – adopting the goal of “good enough.” Please don’t confuse embracing a “good enough” mindset with taking up residence in the land of mediocrity. The “good enough” mindset that I refer to is a whole different animal. Let me explain. When we focus on perfection, we essentially set ourselves up for never making the grade and ultimately feeling pretty bad about ourselves and our performance. Every mistake tends to be experienced as a failure, rather than as an opportunity for learning and a means to fine tune our process and enhance our results.

A “good enough” attitude is one that fully utilizes our skills, focus and positive intention. Through this approach and mindset, we can produce our best effort and then move on to other matters. When we shift our focus to “good enough,” we not only get to produce some pretty high quality outcomes, we also get to feel good about our work and ourselves. Ironically, our “good enough” results tend to meet objectively high standards. The added bonus in this approach is that our “good enough” work, rather than resulting in mediocrity and complacency, tends to motivate us toward increased results and next level professional and personal growth; it also results in our increased authenticity in our work and our relationships.

I invite you to try on a “good enough” mindset for a week or two or three and notice what happens. Notice the shift in the quantity and quality of your results, your internal experience, your impact on others and your overall enjoyment of your work. Try it!

Janet