Cultivating Good Enough

Hi. My name is Shannon and I’m a recovering perfectionist.

Well, working on being a recovering perfectionist.

Ummm, wanting to be a recovering perfectionist.

Not to get all perfectionistic or anything, but for a perfectionist, it’s hard to imagine doing anything less.

Why would you do anything any way except perfectly? Why wouldn’t you want to get it right?

The downside of perfectionism.

It’s hard to start something you believe you can’t do well enough.

If you can get started, it’s hard to finish, because it never seems to meet your vision.

If you try to finish, you end up with diminishing returns. Futzing and fine-tuning and trying to get it just right.

Another way.

I know people who embrace and live the idea of good enough. I envy that. And I’m cultivating it myself.

It’s not about being sloppy or lazy or not caring enough to get it right. All those things that perfectionism whispers in your ear, when you think of doing anything less.

It’s about recognizing how much time and energy a particular thing really deserves. It’s about knowing how to dispense your finite energy and resources towards an infinite array of opportunities and possibilities.

It’s about letting go to get started, and paying attention to what really matters at the heart of what you’re doing.

Care to join me in a little irony?

After finishing this post the first time, I went to save it, and was kicked out of WordPress. When I logged back in, 80% of what I was written hadn’t been saved. So, yes, this is the less-than-perfect second version of this post. I hope you still get something out of it.

Photo Credit: Letting Go by The Eggplant on Flickr