When good enough never feels good enough

You work hard. You have respect and known for the of work you do. People know you as reliable, capable, someone who always gets it right. Always gets it right.  Being good at what you do is important to you- its not just part of who you are, it’s who you are.

You pay attention to every little detail. You work hard, constantly criticising what you have done, never fully satisfied, always believing you could do more or do better.

Other people may tell you how great your work is, but you struggle to hear it because you can still see the flaws. To you 98% or 99% still means there is room for improvement. So you keep pushing yourself harder and harder, trying to make everything perfect.

Part of you may believe this pressure is what makes you successful. It drives you, motivates you, pushes you forward. But over time this also becomes exhausting. Because if something is not perfect, you start to feel you are not enough.

If, you are receiving positive feedback for work that you deem as only “98% there”, perhaps the standards you set for yourself are higher than the standards others expect.

Not every task needs the same level of energy, pressure or perfectionism. Some tasks are urgent and important. Others simply are not.

So when you look at your to do list, ask yourself:

What truly deserves my full energy and attention to detail, and what simply deserves to be “good enough”?

Sometimes protecting our wellbeing and ability to perform consistently means allowing ourselve to do things imperfectly.