I have BIG plans for today-I’m organizing a closet. There are still boxes in there from when we moved in December-before-last. Just writing that sentence makes me cringe. You see, I am a reformed perfectionist. I changed my ways, because I couldn’t create a Girl Power for Good movement that changes the way girls and women relate to themselves and each other AND hold onto perfectionism. Perfectionism and creating big dreams do not go hand in hand. Why?
Because perfectionism takes way too much time and energy to be productive.
When you’re on a path to change a culture or do anything really meaningful, you need all your time and energy to create that thing. There’s no room for fiddle-faddling with worrying about being perfect. Simply put, it’s a waste of precious resources.
I have a great friend who life coaches surgeons. In the heart surgery biz, there is a practice that illustrates this theme. When a surgeon is putting in a stint and cleans up the arterial plaque, they aim for 85% clear. If they go back in for the last 15%, the risk of doing harm overtakes the reward of less plaque. I figure if a heart surgeon is okay being a B student, I can leave the A+ on the table for now.
How can you apply this in your life? Where is good Good Enough? When your “discussion” with your teen about responsibility has wound down to a calm place, can you resist getting the last word? It won’t do any good, probably because they’ve heard that same thing eleventy-nine times. One last word has a risk of undoing all the good that has happened to get the conversation to a calm place.
And now I could add a lot more wisdom and quippy prose, but I believe this is good enough!
Where in your life can you say “Good Enough” and move on to do something more meaningful? Write it on the Big Board at our community center. If you need help, write to me at terrif@findyourpride.org!
XO
Terri
