Good Enough

Last summer I met a woman in town who started her own business. I asked her if she would share her experience over a cup of coffee. She accepted my invitation and graciously explained how she set up her business. The most helpful thing she shared, though, was how she changed her perspective about the work she did.

As we talked we discovered that we were both perfectionists. At first she tried to perfectly finish each project. She strived every day to do everything that needed to be done, and she was wearing herself out. Then she had a chance to talk to a person in town who had his own business. After they shared experiences, she asked him if he advised that she should learn to accept that a project was good enough. No, he said, she needed to learn that sometimes "close enough to good enough" is okay. She still cares that her work is good quality, which is different than expecting it to be perfect. And she said that it gets easier with practice.

The look on my face told her that I didn't believe that would happen for me. She assured me that it would and that I would be happier for learning this early. I told her all the things that I wanted to do, didn't know how to do, and worried would happen down the road. She calmly explained that she went through that and shared how she makes herself a weekly chart that keeps her focused on what to do first, second, and so on. She also said that I could not plan for everything that might happen because there was no way I could know everything ahead of time.

I talked to her six months later and her business was thriving. I said, "You told the universe that you were ready and it responded." She agreed.

So I've been practicing letting things be good enough. I have almost finished painting the laundry room, in a timely manner I might add, because I did not fixate on all the imperfections but accepted the room as it was: a laundry room that needed sprucing up with a bit of color. It has made the job easier and more enjoyable, and it has been "good enough" practice for me while I remember to take one step at a time.