Good Enough
Hello, long time no see blog friends! (I honestly feel like an old lady saying that.) Even though the internet world has moved onto bigger better things like scamming people into investing in joke currencies and spending actual money to own internet memes, I want to keep myself accountable for keeping this blog active and publishing at least once a month.
When I was young, my grandparents had a nickname for me. They called me “Little 99” because in school, I scored 99% on every test. I was smart, but not 100% smart. Just 99. I was almost there, almost to perfection, and my family never let me forget that. Obviously, this scarred my self-esteem (amongst other things) as a child. I grew up an overachiever who always wanted to reach perfection, and to this day, I am still that girl, stressing out because something I did wasn’t “perfect” and losing sleep over every mistake or misstep.
But perfect doesn’t exist. We only have 24 hours in a day. If I want to be a well-rounded person, I have to manage my time and be okay with 99%. That’s good enough, and that’s all I should aim for. I need to focus on the things that really matter, set realistic expectations, and “define my scope.” Not doing it all doesn’t mean I failed. Instead it just means I am really good at a few things.
I guess I’m writing this as a manifesto to remind myself to focus. Much easier said than done but here are a few action items:
Take one thing off my to-do list everyday. There is joy in missing out.
Pick 3 core things I would like to be really good at and don’t stray. For me, that would be my career, my health, and my creativity.
Be patient with myself. Accept my limitations and truly forgive my failures. Especially if I failed at something other than my core things.
Don’t get tunnel vision. Remember everything else I got going for myself and see the fuller picture.
Don’t act on every idea. Let them go. There will always be more ideas than time we have to act on them.
Embrace being “Little 99”
