It’s good enough
It’s hard for me to get things to the “it’s good enough” stage and then just leave them there. To me “good enough” feels the same as “crappy”. But I know that’s not true, so I’ve been deliberately practicing letting things just be “good enough” and then letting them go.
What I’ve discovered is that my version of “good enough/crappy” is often other people’s version of “oh that’s cool”.
And I doubt it’s that so many people have low standards or that the things I’m doing are crappy. Instead, I think it’s often because I have standards that are too high.
Now there’s nothing wrong with high standards in and of themselves. High standards are good, and there are certain things I’d hope were never considered just “good enough”. (“Oh we glanced at that food for traces of lead, but got busy so that’s just going to have to be good enough” is not something I ever want to hear.)
But if I never used a spending plan because I wasn’t satisfied that it was perfect, I’d probably end up short of the money I needed to buy the things I really wanted. If I never applied for a job that I thought I could do but wasn’t 100% certain of, I’d miss out on some great opportunities. If I never put up a bare-bones web site and called it “good enough for now” I might end up being passed over for a related project.
Sometimes we just have to do things, and get over our resistance by accepting. Yes, I’ll probably make mistakes. Yes, maybe things could be better. But yes, maybe things really are good enough.
March 26th, 2009 at 6:03 am
The good news about all this: you can always go back and tweak later.
March 26th, 2009 at 6:46 am
Yup, with later being the operative word.
March 26th, 2009 at 10:23 am
I waited several months before starting my blog. I’m still not convinced it’s good enough, but I had to put my fears aside and get it started. It’s a work-in-progress, but I always aim to keep improving it.
March 26th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Well, it’s usually in times of trial that people wax philosophical. My wife is the pessimistic (she would say realistic one) and I tend to be a bit more upbeat about things. That’s been my insurance in life to get through the tough times. I take stock in what I’ve been fortunate to get/have and it leads me to feel a bit better. Sometimes it’s best that things are just good enough.
Jerry