Making the case for medocrity

Growing up, “good enough” was kind of a catchphrase in my house. If my mom forgot an ingredient in a recipe, or if a home-improvement project didn’t go exactly as planned, she’d shrug, laugh, and say, “Oh well. It’s good enough.”

I didn’t fully embrace the power of “good enough,” however, until a few years ago, when the stress of reaching a huge career milestone—writing a book—tanked my mental health. During the many sleepless nights leading up to the book’s publication, I began to recalibrate my relationship with ambition and achievement. I realized that I’d rather be good enough and happy than great and miserable.

That can feel a bit heretical in the U.S. While other cultures celebrate long lunches and six-week vacations, American capitalism is built on the idea of endless striving for material success, with little sympathy or patience for those who opt out. But, particularly since the pandemic, a growing number of people seem disillusioned with that lifestyle, if trends like "quiet quitting" and "lazy-girl jobs" are any indication. I think the quiet-quitters are on to something: lots of research suggests we'd all be happier and healthier if we could abandon limitless ambition in favor of accepting all the ways we're good enough.

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