Become the best version of you by becoming good enough.
TLDR: Getting comfortable with the practice of 'Good enough move on' (GEMO) is a powerful tool that can unlock productivity and help you be kinder to yourself. By setting your own decision on what is enough, using GEMO can also help you deliver your best self, in both the professional and personal settings.
The problem with perfectionism
Striving for perfection becomes harmful when it leads to applying too much pressure to yourself creating anxiety and stress. It can cause procrastination and the inability to start tasks. Give you low self-esteem or feelings of inadequacy. Harm relationships by putting pressure on yourself or others to meet high standards. Perfectionism can block creativity and growth opportunities by creating a fear of failure. We need a way to live with being enough and deciding when enough is enough. Let’s talk GEMO.
What is GEMO?
"Good enough, move on" (GEMO) means making peace with what you have done and giving yourself permission to move onward. It is a helpful mindset and practice that can be used in many situations. We often feel we haven’t done or given enough and get caught in a spiral of perfectionism that wastes valuable energy and can erode our self esteem. Whether it is volunteer work, careers or parenting, there isn’t always enough time to do things the way we want. To make sure we have enough time, resources, and energy we have to set and live by when enough is enough - by our individual standard.
It can be tempting to spend an additional 50% effort on something which really only makes it 5% better. Accepting GEMO as a healthy completion mechanism can help you avoid getting stuck in a cycle of over-analyzing, over-editing, or over-optimizing, which can hinder progress and productivity.
Read our post on how to use GEMO in the workplace. Subscribe using the form below to receive updates when new blogs are out.
It's important to recognize the harmful effects of perfectionism. Learning to embrace imperfection and appreciate progress can lead to a more fulfilling and enjoyable life.
The good enough employee
As a team mate, being someone who doesn't get hung up on perfection can make you a valuable team player, and someone people love to work with. It can help you get through many tasks more productively so you're able to support your team be agile and flexible, but more so it makes you approachable. Your team can come to you for support in a time crunch when they need to get something out the door without worrying you'll start going over old ground, or they can come to you with something half baked looking for creativity and input to help get something moving, without the worry of something becoming too complex or over thought.
As a leader, your team can feel safe to share their work with you without the fear of it being critiqued to an unhealthy extent. By resisting the urge to 'add value' to everything your team delivers you build up the people around you, they're better able to be productive, critical thinkers, and feel empowered to deliver.
The good enough parent
When it comes to parenting, it's easy to get caught up in the notion that we must be a perfect parent. After all, which parent doesn't want the absolute best for their child!? Chasing perfection, for yourself or for your child, can cause unnecessary stress. Embracing the idea of being 'good enough' gives you the freedom to make mistakes, a normal part of life that you can model for your child, it allows for growth, and creates authentic connection which strengthens the bond between parent and child. If you're interested in knowing more about The School of Life have a book that dives deeply into this topic, called 'The Good Enough Parent'.
Pg takeaway:
By giving yourself the permission to be good enough and dropping the urge to be perfect you are actually allowing yourself to be the best version of yourself. You will be less stressed and your relationships will flourish.