Tag: Reflections

Good Enough Really Is

What’s a fear you’ve overcome — and how did you do it?

I grew up with the fear of getting it wrong. I always felt that nothing was ever good enough for my mother, and that I was constantly being criticised when, in fact, she was probably only trying to do what was best for me, encouraging me to be the person she knew I could be.

Let’s be honest, most of us have had it drummed into us that “good enough isn’t” (good enough).

Then I learned the Pareto Principle. 80% of the benefit results from 20% of the effort. And I suddenly realised that good enough really is good enough. We aren’t perfect. We are going to make mistakes. There are very few, if any, areas in life where perfection is essential. So why waste 80% of our effort trying to correct that last 20% which no one except the most critical perfectionist (which is often ourselves) will notice, anyway.

Reflections

Look back if you can.

Learn from all your past mistakes;

Then change your future.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Many people live in the past. They wallow in the misery of past mistakes. Yet, we cannot change the past. It’s gone. Would you aim to empty your trash bin, to recover the contents for sentimentality’s sake? Of course not. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

Still, let’s say that you threw a favourite china cup in the trash because it was broken. Now you can do something: You can learn from the mistake that broke that treasured possession and try to ensure that it doesn’t happen, again, with the replacement.

In the same way, leave past mistakes in the past; but learn the lesson, and change the future.