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Do you struggle with self-worth or not feeling good enough?
When you have anxiety, depression, or other mental health and chronic health issues, you may not feel good enough, making feeling worthy challenging. However, the phrase “good enough” is both overstated and underappreciated. “Good enough” gets a bad reputation. When people use it, they often do so with a sneer in their voice. Good enough really is good enough though.
Keep reading and listen to the Chronically Conscious podcast to discover why you are enough.
The Vicious Cycle of Not Feeling Good Enough
For the longest time, the phrase “good enough” meant that I’d settled. I thought I’d failed when something I’d done wasn’t perfectly executed. This eventually led to procrastinating, perfectionism, and other self-sabotaging behavior.
My self-criticism brainwashed me. My high school years were full of self-doubt because I always felt like I never had any real strengths and that good enough wasn’t enough. The fact of the matter is, I had plenty of talents and strengths back then, just as I do now. However, I wouldn’t let myself see my qualities at that time because I was so fixated on telling myself that I wasn’t good enough.
This kind of thinking followed me into my young adult life too. Any little problem in life and my mind would start telling me that it was my fault because what I could do wasn’t good enough. This was especially apparent in my marriage and relationships.
Breaking Free from Perfectionism
The eye-opener for me which broke this self-deprecating cycle was when I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and bipolar disorder type II in 2014. Finally, I could see the flaw in the logic. My mental breakdown put me in a spot in which I had very little control over in my life, and that’s when I realized good enough is really good enough. You can learn more about how my hunger for control almost killed me in my book, Stress Size.
After that experience, being perfect didn’t matter as much anymore. I simply focused on doing my best. And sometimes, my “best” changed from day to day, or even hour to hour. Now, instead of trying to be perfect, I aim for progress, not perfection. I strive to be a better person today than I was yesterday, and I’ll try and be a better person tomorrow than I am today.
I’ve learned “good enough” means you’ve done your best. And your best can be different at different times, depending on what you have going on. By no means does “good enough” mean minimum effort. It means you have grace with standards. You give it your best shot, and make your peace with the way things turn out, even if they aren’t perfect.
Of course, I still struggle with self-confidence. Sometimes, I still compare myself with others, but I’ve learned to accept myself more and more. I know I’m good enough and now when I say “good enough,” I say it with a smile.
Conclusion
If you’re not feeling good enough, I understand this might be a tough pill to swallow. But before you grab your torches and pitchforks let me share something with you:
You are good enough because you are you!
You are good enough and I believe in you!
That’s right—I believe in you with all my heart. You can do the thing, it doesn’ matter how long it takes you. You can do it and I believe in you because you’re good enough.
Now, go out there and show the world how much that means!
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