Good Enough 2

I was reading Tribes by Seth Godin today. It's an odd little book. But good, thought-provoking material. About half-way through I realized that it read like a series of blog entries - interesting, somewhat related thoughts explored just enough to leave some pondering for the reader. Turns out that's just what it is.

He has an entry on "Settling", as in accepting what is (even when it obviously has problems) and not working to change it. And another on "The Obligation", as in we do not have the opportunity to not settle, but the obligation to not settle.

"I don't think we have any choice. I think we have an obligation to change the rules, to raise the bar, to play a different game, and to play it better than anyone has any right to believe is possible."

And this all got me to thinking about my thoughts on Good Enough. I believe what Seth Godin believes. Dream big. Bigger. Screw the rules. If you refuse to throw out all limitations and imagine whatever it is just as you would create it in a ideal way, how could you ever bring that marvelous possibility to life?

Maybe it won't turn out just as you imagined, because as you start down the road to creating it you'll learn things that change your dream, perhaps even making it better. But without the dream and without the gumption, you'll never even take a step down the road where you'll learn whatever it is, and you'll never begin to create something better. You simply resign yourself to the circumstances of your life.

So what do I mean by Good Enough? I certainly don't mean settling for mediocrity and the status quo. I mean, throw out the idea of perfection, get real and get conscious about what matters to you, and then live up to that standard.

The idea of perfection stops too many people from trying. "I'm not good enough." And what exactly do you mean by that? What does Good Enough look like? Really, I want an answer. Define it. Now look at that definition and tell me, how many of the requirements are within your control? Go back. Define Good Enough again. This time every requirement has to be within your control. You can't control how other people feel, but you can control how you feel and the actions you take and the attitude with which you take them.

Now you can take a step down the road towards bringing your marvelous possibility to life knowing that being Good Enough to do so is all within your power. Get to it.