In the public sector, we have a saying that goes something like this: “Good enough for government work!”. It implies that the government doesn’t expect perfection, so “good enough” is often all you’ll need to put into an assignment.
This article is a part of the Kill It! series of articles aimed at streamlining your life into a well-oiled machine.
Sadly, it also implies that “good enough” is somehow inferior. After all, the saying isn’t “Give it your all and forget the rest”. We’re talking about calling it good somewhere before you reach the unattainable level of “perfect”.
The truth is perfection is impossible to achieve. Flat out impossible. We’re humans, and humans make mistakes. With everything we do, there’s always something that we could have done differently. Done better. Quicker.
You, my friend, are not perfect. I’m not either. That’s life.
In fact, this study suggests that those who constantly seek perfection are more likely to experience both emotional as well as physical problems.
Umm, no thanks.
My life of good enough
As far back as I can remember, I lived the “good enough” life to a T. Perhaps I was born a natural economist. I never put forth an ounce of additional effort when I believed that I had already squeaked out as much as I could.
It’s like when you’re at the bottom of a can of soda. You drink until no more comes out even though we all realize there’s just a bit still left. You stop with the soda stops. It’s good enough.
In school, I strived to keep my grades slightly above average. More Bs than Cs. An occasional A here and there. I didn’t strive for straight As because I didn’t feel they were necessary. I did my best to plant myself in that well-populated area slightly above the fold, then called it good.
I always used a similar philosophy when at work. Each assignment I completed to the very best of my ability. I did the work – sometimes went above and beyond, but I knew when I had already squeezed out as much juiciness as I could from the task. At that point, I was done.
Hell, even with early retirement, I chose to utilize a good enough philosophy. We retired with close to – but slightly less than – a million dollars in the bank, which is far less than most people believe that we need for early retirement in our mid-30s. But, we did it anyway. We were close enough. It just wasn’t worth another year working a job that I didn’t enjoy.
Damn, look at all this “good enough”-ness. I’ve never done anything perfectly, and probably never will.
But still, I retired from full-time work at the age of 35, and I never looked back. I called it good – to include my career – without trying to eek out another year. Another hundred thousand. Another year working a job I didn’t enjoy. We achieved our good enough number, then bailed.
This isn’t about half-assing your life
Good enough is not the same as half-assing it. Being irresponsible or intentionally lazy with your school, work or life, in general, will never be the answer to your prayers. It won’t let you escape the wretched grasp of corporate America and live a life of pure freedom.
In fact, it’s precisely the opposite.
When you’re lazy, you leave money on the table. You miss promotions at work that could send your progress toward your goals into overdrive. When people cannot depend on you, you create a scenario that keeps you on the outside. An outlier, but not in the positive sense.
Never mistake good enough for not trying your best.
Getting closer to perfection
Former football coach Vince Lombardi once said:
Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence
While perfection is impossible to achieve, there is wisdom in striving for the best that you can be. Incredible wisdom.
Here are several techniques that can help you reach toward perfection and hopefully get a little closer to it. I’ve employed these techniques throughout my life to maximize success with the time I put into my tasks.
Break down tasks – One of the biggest inhibitors to success is the sense of being overwhelmed. When things appear too big to handle, we clam up. We assume that they are too hard or just impossible. But, nine times out of 10, they are achievable. We just gotta approach them the right way.
For example, let’s say you want to lose weight. 100 pounds. To most people, losing 100 pounds probably seems like a monumental task. How could anyone lose 100 pounds? That’s insane!
But, think of it this way. It’s not so insane when you break that goal down into more easily achievable parts. Say, two pounds a week. Or 10 pounds a month. Doesn’t two pounds a week seem like a much more reasonable task than losing the entire 100? This is how I lost 50 pounds several years ago after ballooning up to 260 pounds leading an unhealthy lifestyle.
Focus on your time, not the end result – “Keep your eye on the prize”, right? While I understand the wisdom behind those words, I also believe that it keeps us focused on the mountain that we’re climbing rather than the smaller and more manageable steps that we’re taking to get there.
In the back of our minds, we know that we’re climbing a mountain. Every time we look up, we see that distant peak that looks impossibly far. Way too high for any reasonable human being to reach. In this case, don’t keep your eye on the prize. Keep your head down and focus on those steps. Each step represents progress. Sweet, sweet progress.
Instead of focusing on that mountain peak, pick out much closer milestones. Then, set out to achieve each and every one. That rock about 30 feet away…yeah, that looks like an awesome rock to stop at for a minute. Let’s just get there. Then, it’s the patch of green grass over there. That looks soft and comfy. Let’s go there. Before we know it, we’re halfway up that sucker.
We’re about to conquer that mountain!
Do your best and forget the rest – Regardless of how well you may do something, there will almost always be someone out there who will do it better. Faster. More efficiently. And, that’s okay.
While there is wisdom in doing the best that you can and consistently improving over time, resist (yes, RESIST!) the temptation to compare yourself with others. That’s always a lose-lose proposition. Your life’s goals isn’t about anyone else. The car someone else drives should have no bearing on the car that you choose to drive. That’s their life, not yours.
Just F-ing do it! – You don’t need the “perfect” plan before you begin. If your goal is to lose 100 pounds, get yourself into the gym and just start. Start on the treadmill or on an elliptical. In short order, you’ll build enough confidence to branch out a bit and maybe pick up a dumbbell or two. It all adds up. Progress builds. But, you gotta start. You just gotta start.
Believe me, I didn’t have a clue about working out when I first set foot in a gym. I’d be the guy you’d see reading those little stickers on the machines to figure out how to do the exercise. I selected a very light weight, then pushed through an easy set of 10 reps to get a feel for the exercise. Then, I’d kick it up 10 pounds and try another set. I’d keep doing that until I was comfortable with the challenge. Each time, I had the strength to do just a little bit more.
Progress can only happen after you start. You don’t need a detailed plan. You don’t need it all worked out. You just gotta f-ing do it.
A lot of wisdom here Steve. Being a bit of a perfectionist, I know how it can bog a person down. Over the years I had to retrain myself in a manner similar to one of the points in the post. “Don’t worry about the outcome, just get started.” Having that mindset keeps me from going down the analysis paralysis rat hole and never doing anything. Tom
Years ago, when I was taking an entrepreneur class the instructor said to fear business plans. Not to skip them but don’t devote too much time and it takes away from the action. I didn’t take that advice though … I got 30 pages of plans and lost interest after that. (Then bought a house and got married…etc.)
Sounds a lot like me. There was a lot of good advice out there that I never took, unfortunately. Though, sometimes it is tough to determine the good advice from the…not so good! 🙂
Well said here, Steve. We can analyze till we’re blue in the face but if we don’t get up and move, the moment will pass us by. I’ve heard a military quote recently: A good plan executed now is much better than a perfect plan executed later. The battlefield changes in time. Get up and act. Solid post!
It’s always good to begin the day with a bit of morning wisdom. Thank you Steve.
Always good to see JFDI in a blog post!
I think we all need a gentle nudge from time to time.
Good morning Steve, great post. I’ve never been a perfectionist. Didn’t bother me a bit to not get straight A’s in school. In life, as long as I get the job done, put in good effort, and can live with the results, it is “good enough”.
Love the Lombardi quote, that’s a nugget of wisdom there.
Nice post. Lots of good info and sage advice here. I’m glad you clarified on good enough while doing your best instead of half arsing it..especially when it comes to education. The benefits of applying yourself 100% in a given class may not be obvious if its philosophy or bioethics until later in your life because most of it revolves around how to think and I meet so many people who simply do not have critical thinking skills and worse still, don’t think its important to have them because the only thing that matters to them is their opinion (substitute, “facts as they care to know them”).
Kudos on retiring at 35 and at less than the typical amount. I only recently started following you but I like your writing style and the depth you go to in your posts.
Appreciate the kind words, Kevin! 🙂
I’m in the good enough camp too. Maybe a bit too much. I don’t give 100% anymore. It’s probably closer to 80% and that’s good enough for pretty much anything. There are good points like you wrote about, but there are some negatives too. I think I gave up a bit too early on a lot of stuff. That’s okay, though. I can live with that and it’s good enough for me.
Mrs. RB40 on the other hand shoots for close to perfection. She has higher standard…
I’ve read about a half dozen articles here and I’ve come to realize that there’s just not a lot of content. I’m left thinking that I wish that I had that time back. Not meant to be hurtful in any way but I’m streamlining good reading and selecting carefully as I explore. More enjoyment to all in your readings.
Sounds great! Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know! 😉
You took the additional time (given your apparently highly valued time) to make what can only be perceived as a negative comment. Interesting.
Great minds think alike, we’re covering similar topics today Steve. Though my angle is not just about failure to start.
Sometimes your best is overkill. Sometimes half way is the ideal solution because perfection isn’t worth the investment, but good still is.
Hah! Excellent. And I definitely agree. 🙂
I hear ya! I used to put so much pressure on to myself as well and get frustrated when not able to accomplish things as planned. Not anymore. It’s all about acceptance to me now. It’s all about less stress success. Nothing wrong about good enough. Good enough for you may be more than enough for other people. My wife always reminds me, especially when dealing with people. No expectations, no disappointments.
you know what is a great state for a task? done. mrs. me sometimes gets a little excited if we’re having people over and she wanted to make something special that didn’t get done. i always tell her nobody knows how much better it could have been. forget it and have a good time.
I remember reading a book by Ben Stein several years ago. He had a chapter titled “The Best is the Enemy of the Good”. The point was that in Hollywood screenwriters who could not let anything out of their hands before it was perfect, regularly lost out to the ones who wrote things that were “good enough, but not perfect”. Great lesson there.
On the making progress side of things, Scott Adams’ latest book talks about systems instead of goals. Makes a lot of sense. If you have a system you follow and you do your best to stick to it, you are much more likely not to get waylaid by missing a goal. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve lost my way toward a goal and just said “fuck it”. Systems though don’t judge you.
We all need to know that we can grab so much info from reading books, blogs, watching videos but what matters is the execution of your plan and we have to out there and take action. We all can prepare so much but if you stay on the sidelines and not take action, it won’t mean much.
“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence” – powerful quote.
Was happy to see this come through into my inbox to start my Monday AM, thanks Steve!
Just F-ing do it! So true…starting can be the hardest part but once you do those small steps and little wins on whatever you’re trying to achieve are so worth it. JUST F’ING DO IT!
Just started reading your blogs. My husband and I are both in high stress IT jobs and often feel overwhelmed, your advice is right on the target. Good is good enough especially with a fast paced, work environment where you could easily work yourself to an early death. Take one day at a time, and just let it go. We focus on our health and physical activities when not working to feed our soul in order to keep up with work demands.
I don’t agree, every person is in a difficult place. I find his articles very helpful.
25 years of goverment service here, both military and civilian. Things were usually pass/fail go/ no go. We never half-assed anything, but simply trained to meet requirements. Perfection is indeed the enemy. That is where ulcers are created born and is simply a heart attack in waiting. The high stress created is so damaging. Saw it too many times.