Five takeaways:
- This article discusses a new book called The Good Enough Life that makes a broad ideology of “Good-enoughness”– a healthy mental alternative to the burden of over-aspirational “greatness thinking.”
- While there is no problem with wanting to be great, the book argues that we must be conscious of clinging too tightly to extraordinarily lofty goals– and that doing so sets us up for both practical and emotional failure.
- If we can accept that frustration, roadblocks, and limitations both personal and external are unavoidable, the book argues, we begin to approach problems and goals in a much more practical way. This, in turn, brings us a feeling of momentum and positivity.
- “Greatness” thinking can be very limiting in interactions and effort in life– if we view our lives on a single tracked path to a distant “great” goal (say, winning an Oscar or publishing a best-selling book), then we are forced to devalue certain relationships and hobbies as wastes of time– even if they bring us overall joy.
- The “Good Enoughness” concept can be applied to external goals as well. For instance, the global scale of a problem like climate change can cause “inflexible” thinking about its eventual solution. Since we cannot do the great thing of solving it ourselves, we often overlook the smaller, shorter-term changes we actually can control.
From Lily Meyer at The Atlantic:
Read the whole story.
Note: At the time of this posting The Atlantic offers five free article views per month.
This site may contain links to articles or other information that may be contained on a third-party website. Advisory Services Network, LLC and MAP Strategic Wealth Advisors are not responsible for and do not control, adopt, or endorse any content contained on any third party website. The information and material contained in linked articles is of a general nature and is intended for educational purposes only. Links to articles do not constitute a recommendation or a solicitation or offer of the purchase or sale of securities.