I am not a perfectionist. I had to give up my Type A personality not long into motherhood when the pile of unmated socks in the laundry basket finally defeated my desire for order and structure in all things. But you don’t have to be a perfectionist to get caught up in trying to make something PERFECT. And since perfection is a goal that’s a little too steep for the majority of us, I’ve found that the need to make sure everything is absolutely flawless can often lead to a lot more trouble than it’s worth.
Let me give you an example. This past week we celebrated my middle daughter’s 5th birthday. At 5 years old, she has a pretty good idea about what presents she wants, what she wants to wear, and what Nick Jr. cartoon character she wants to receive a birthday phone call from. But she didn’t care nearly as much as I did about having the perfect number of tissue paper flowers, a balloon castle that actually looked like a castle, or whether the cupcakes had just the right swirl in the icing. That stress was all on me and all my fault. And guess what? Just because I was trying so hard to get every little detail perfect, it didn’t happen. And she still had a good time, just like the rest of us. At five minutes until party time, I had to throw in the towel and realize that it was GOOD ENOUGH.
Another example is when I first started budgeting towards goals, like a family vacation or the playset in the backyard. I wanted to hit those goals as soon as possible, so I squeezed every other budget item as much as possible in order to transfer those pennies into our Afena club accounts. I wanted to perfect my budgeting so I could know, to the penny, how much we would spend on groceries, on gas, and on our bills every week. And I ended up with a budget that was hopelessly optimistic and totally unrealistic in its spending assumptions. I had to lighten up, and realize that if it takes a few months for my family to reach a particular financial goal, well that’s GOOD ENOUGH.
Sometimes settling for good enough can actually work to your benefit. One trick I learned from my dad in balancing my checkbook is to always round up to the next full dollar amount when writing down purchases. That way, at the end of the month, all that loose change has piled up and you might have $50 in unexpected cash in your checking account. And that is definitely GOOD ENOUGH.
Doing your best is a worthy goal and a great way to get ahead in life. So whether you’re planning an event, finishing up a project at work, or setting out on a personal goal, such as writing a book or remodeling a house, remember that even if everything isn’t absolutely perfect, and it almost definitely won’t be, as long as you put your best into it, it is most definitely going to be GOOD ENOUGH. I’m Claire, the Afena blog mom. Thanks for reading.