Good is Good Enough
Posted on December 29, 2012 by Tracy Niemier, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
How I found the balance between wanting to do a great job and actually finishing things.
I have a lot of things in my life that are not getting done. Some of them are almost done, some are half done, some haven’t even been started. The reason they are not getting done is because I want them done properly. I want them done right. I want them done so that I will be proud of them. I want them to be beyond reproach or criticism. This is a noble undertaking but it is standing in my way.
Each day when I look at my to-do list, the same items keep showing up on that list. Many of them are works in progress, or I need some information to complete them, or often, I think they are almost done, I just need to polish them a little. Items don’t get crossed off my list because I don’t think they are good enough and so my list grows and grows. Watching that list grow without any feeling of accomplishment is not fun and it is not motivating.
I’m trying a new approach. When I think a project I am working on is at 75 to 80% complete, I am calling it “good enough”. I can always go back and improve it later as I get more information or a better idea. Another really great reason to do this is because I can get feedback from friends and colleagues that will make my work better than it ever could have been with only my input.
This frees me up to cross things off my list and start new projects. By working on other related jobs there will be a synergy effect where I will find a missing piece or a way to illustrate a point in one project that will benefit several projects. I will have more enthusiasm because I will be able to see that I am getting things done, and my ideas and creativity will be in an upward spiral that feeds on past work.
This feels risky to me. Maybe I have a bit of the perfectionist in me, but I am taking on this dare. I dare to be less than perfect, to make some mistakes. I dare to believe that my work can be better when I get input from trusted colleagues. I dare to admit that I don’t know it all and to share my uncertainty. I dare to make a mistake and get up, dust myself off, and try again. I will enjoy the feeling of starting on new projects instead of being faced by the same tasks over and over at the start of each day and I will embrace being a work in progress.
What will I be getting accomplished when I’m not letting perfectionism get in my way? What if I do my tasks to 75 or 80% and complete 90 to 100% of the things I want to get done instead of a completion rate of 50 to 60%? What will change for me?
In this future I see lots more of my ideas out in the world instead of just staying in my head. Maybe they won’t be perfect the first time around but Good is Good Enough. My ideas will have a chance to grow and flourish and if my ideas are growing and flourishing, then so am I.
