good enough

"Good enough is not good enough" Chiat Day always used to bug me by saying that. I know what they were trying to say but it was the worst sort of sloganeering because 'good enough' is, by definition, 'good enough'. That's what it means.

Anyway, I was reminded of that because there's a lovely piece about the power of good enough at Dear Ada which manages to connect a Timex watch and a toasted cheese sandwich. Good stuff.

Comments

[JJ]

Thank you for this. I came across it by accident, and I'm glad I did. One of my most inspiring teachers used to have his football players memorize the poem beginning "All too often 'good enough' is where the weak heart stops. It keeps the very best in us from rising to the top."

This phrase has haunted me - - a hard-on-myself-people-pleaser-to-the-core - - ever since high school. Whenever I've said something is "good enough", whether I'm able to leave it that way or not, it has left me feeling unsatisfied with my effort.

It's freeing to hear someone else say that there is a time when striving for the best is important, but there is also a time when enough is enough! (Funny how a self-admitted people pleaser also admits that she needs to hear someone else validate her need to just slack off!)

[Dave Nicolette]

This isn't your best post, but it's good enough.