Good Enough is Good Enough
Happy March everyone. How’s the year treating you? For me, it’s been busier, which can be a good thing, but at times it also feels like there’s a little too much stuff going on. Have you ever felt that way? Perhaps you are juggling one, or a few, too many balls and you’re unsure if you can keep up the act? There’s that fear that if you drop one ball, all the other balls will be dropped as well.
That kind of pressure can be exciting, especially when you’re able to execute it, but otherwise, it feels like too much pressure. I realized that when I’m in those situations, my stress skyrockets, and I feel myself freeze out of fear.
When I’m operating in that level of stress and fear, my brain tries to find the perfect solution to make the problem go away. I spend hours and days thinking and strategizing on what the “perfect” thing to do is. The end result? No action is taken, and the problem is not only not resolved, but I’ve also lost the time I spent thinking.
That’s when I came across this concept called Kaizen. It comes from Japan and translates to “Improvement.” The idea is that the goal isn’t to figure out the perfect solution but just to find something that’s a little better—that is, to do something that is good enough. Continuous effort towards improvement over time will get you to that “perfect” solution.
It took me a while to accept the concept because I used to describe myself as a perfectionist, someone who prided myself on being right or correct from the start. To test the theory, I started with small things that didn’t matter to me. For example, I would “wing” a recipe instead of studying and memorizing it before I even tried it. This resulted in many delicious mistakes, but more importantly, I tried out more recipes than I did in the past.
I eventually started trying it out in my professional life. I used to stress preparing for meetings and tried to control as many variables as possible. However, when I started to relax into the process a bit more, I became more personable, and I could go with the flow of the meeting. This meant it was easier to meet with people and impact their lives.
I’ll be honest, it was really difficult to loosen the reins and allow for mistakes to happen. But as I allowed for “good enough” to occur, the mistakes turned out to be not that big of a deal. I could work through many of them. There were even moments when the mistake allowed for a better result because of the necessary pivot. Based on our original plan, it took us to places we could not have imagined.
Is there an area of your life where you’re waiting for the perfect moment or plan? Take this as a message to give it a go, even if you don’t feel completely ready. As someone who has been testing this theory out for the last few years, I can tell you, something is exciting on the other side.
You know where to find me if you need a little nudge or encouragement. Talk soon.
Coach Kev helps people find calm, clarity, and confidence in their life while being making efforts that are just good enough. Contact him at kevinkoocoaching@gmail.com, or follow on IG and YouTube @kevinkoocoaching
