The Art of Good Enough

What’s Good Enough?

Perfection is like infinity; it’s a great concept but impossible to reach. We can’t strive for perfection without feeling defeated, questioning our intelligence and ability. If you want a happy, healthy, and confident self, stop chasing the unobtainable. Take an inventory of your life, and examine the pattern perpetuating your disappointment. Ask yourself, Can I break the negative cycle for a better outcome? If you see no way out of your current situation, you haven’t looked closely enough. You hold the key to your own problems. I’ll show you how to uncover your strengths and hidden wealth to map out the path to the life you deserve.

The Distance Between Pleasure and Pain

There are only two types of goals in life: moving toward pleasure or moving away from pain. Those who move toward pleasure know what they want and make efforts to reach their rewards. When they encounter pain on their journey, they see it as necessary before their favorable outcomes. Those who move away from pain live their lives passively, letting fear guide their courses of action. Although they minimize the risk of failure, they’re far from success.

Which one of these are you?

Your goal determines your path. You don’t change your goal; the past only reinforces the future. If you want a new life, set a new goal. Stop playing all the worst-case scenarios in your head. You don’t need the entire map drawn out before taking the first step. When you drive at night, you can only see as far as your headlights allow. As the road extends before you, you find your way to the destination.

The key to your desired outcome is to have the right goal. This goal must be long-term, obtainable, and aligned with your values. Short-term goals are specific to the stage of your life. They don’t provide further guidance once you achieve them. Obtainability means you don’t aim for perfection; you aspire to reach your full potential. Alignment with your values means you live in tune with who you are. Living by other people’s values won’t make you happy, even when those values belong to your loved ones.

Most people know what they don’t want. Few can tell you what they do want. Before you set a worthy goal, ask yourself what is important in your life. Recall the events in your life; what made you proud despite failures? What left you wanting more even when you succeeded? Your goal should not be defined by the life you lived but by the unlived life within you. Think about the dreams you ignored because of the circumstances, the marriage, the kids, and the job. Pay attention to what you yearn for … who you want to be.

The art of good enough has two layers of meaning. One, define the standard you consider good based on your values. It should be consistent in all aspects of your life. Inconsistency in action will confuse you and lead you astray from the path to your desired outcome. Two, our time and energy are limited. We have to be misers to the things that don’t matter to us and give abundance to what does matter. Every time you struggle to decide, ask yourself if it will matter to you in five years, in ten years. If the answer is no, don’t give it another thought. Life is too short to dwell on background noises. We only fight the battles worthy of our time and effort.