Don't Let Perfect Be the Enemy of Good

Tip #2 | Why keeping things in perspective makes life so much easier

In a world where it can feel like we have no control over anything, this series focuses on the areas we do. Click here for the first entry.

I spent much of my life as a perfectionist without even realizing it.

I would overthink everything and lived with a nagging feeling that no matter how well I did something, I could have done it better with a little more time or resources. No amount of praise could release me from this conviction.

Living like this was a nightmare, even if I was completely unaware of this fact in real time.

Weirdly, if you had asked me if I was a perfectionist, I would have said no. I truly thought that it was just normal behavior to pull an all nighter to make my work project as "perfect" as possible.

I didn't find it strange that I wouldn't allow myself to change clothing sizes but would instead go through cycles of starving and binging to maintain my "perfect" size.

Eventually, I realized that while this kind of behavior had been normalized by American culture, it actually was not normal.

I had to do a lot of healing and unlearning of problematic beliefs and replace them with healthier ones.

One of those—don't let perfect be the enemy of good—became a guiding mantra. It has stopped me from falling into many a perfectionist spiral.

My new lodestar became "good enough" or "better than the alternative" rather than "perfect."

Part of the reason this is such a great notion is that there really is no such thing as perfect. It's a completely subjective matter; in the end, people don't care if what you do is perfect. In fact, if you are always doing things "perfectly," it's a bit annoying and offputting.

Even for people who aren't perfectionists, this philosophy of embracing "good enough" is helpful.