Good Enough

To me, perfectionism is this unrelenting desire to do something right the first time that overwhelms and prevents me from attempting it in the first place.

It's obsessing over details that don't matter to anyone else but me. Needing the "perfect" tool for the job and not using what I already have.

It's expecting the same results as someone with years of experience when I don't have any. Setting standards so high I know I won't be able to reach them.

It's fearing failure at a high level.

Sure, it might help me do certain things with a level of exactitude others might not bother with. A large part of the time it's a pain in my side, preventing me from doing things I actually want to do.

What can perfectionism look like?

I'm a hobbyist bookbinder. I like to create tangible things with my hands. This pairs well with my love of good stationery and writing implements. It's also an outlet that lets me disconnect from my job that involves staring at screens 8 hours a day.

When I first got started in the hobby, I did lots of research. I found some tutorials and bought all the tools and materials I needed to create my first book.

It took me a whole year from the time I got all my materials before I finally made that book.

I had an image in my head of what I wanted and how it would go that was not realistic. I wanted the pages to be even, the corners lined up perfectly, the sewing to be exact, and on and on.

I'm well aware that to become better at something you need to practice doing that something. Staring at my pile of materials wasn't going to get me anywhere if I didn't actually attempt to make the thing.

When I finally had enough of putting it off and made my first book, the result was…good enough.

I made mistakes and had many areas of improvement, but it was good enough. That's all it needed to be.

Perfect meant I would never get it done. Good enough meant I had an actual book in my hands.

What's good enough?

As a perfectionist, it's hard to be ok with good enough. But for me, it has been one of the most important things to come to grips with.

Good enough might mean I stop worrying about the tiny details of a photo. I'm posting it to Instagram and nobody is going to notice.

It might mean I don't need bookbinding-specific needles yet. Yarn darner needles from Walmart will get the job done.

It might mean the return on investment to go that last 10% and make it perfect isn't worth the effort required.

It doesn't mean I stop being a perfectionist. That's part of who I am and isn't going away. I will still fuss over the details of whatever I'm doing, but I am going to make mistakes and that's ok. I will take those mistakes and use them to improve the next time. Slowly but surely getting better through every good enough thing I do.

What does good enough mean for you?