“Good enough”: Antidote to perfectionism
Don't channel your inner "Silas."
“Good enough.” As a ‘perfectionist in recovery,’ this phrase has been freeing—it also happens to be an antidote.
If you’re a perfectionist, you probably have unreasonable expectations of yourself: constantly nitpicking, setting a minimal benchmark of zero mistakes, and having a gnawing sense of perpetual discontent with the fruits of your labour.
Self-flagellation, embodying the spirit of Silas from The Da Vinci Code, doesn’t create a supportive environment for thriving. Therefore, within this context, “Good enough” is likely to be a high standard.
Perfectionism is often procrastination in a different guise; it can be debilitating and destabilising. In this instance, perfectionism doesn’t assist in achieving excellence; it blocks it.
shares a heuristic during an appearance on The Diary Of A CEO to help prevent perfectionism and procrastination. Ask yourself: “What is my target score here out of 10?”He elaborates:
“For a book, it’s a 9, because I’m gonna pour two years of my work life into this. And I hope a lot of people will read it and it’s gonna be useful to them. . .
When I’m writing a post for Instagram, I’m pretty content with a 6.5—just above getting cancelled is my target.”
As Adam highlights, “Good enough” can—and perhaps should—be context-specific; the goal is to aim for the Goldilocks sweet spot.