Why You Should Never Settle for ‘Good Enough’
“The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for.”
Maureen Dowd, Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Commentary
I know a couple who were downsizing after their children were grown. They bought a house in which they’re not really happy, in a neighborhood they dislike, all because they were unwilling to keep looking for the house they really wanted. They convinced themselves that the house and neighborhood were ‘good enough’. What a shame they settled for second best especially as an older couple!
As luck would have it, a few months later they saw a house they would have loved in the area in which they had wanted to live. To make matters worse, it fell well within the same price range as the house they had just bought. If they had waited and just kept looking they would not have had to settle for just good enough. They defeated their own goal by not trying to find what would make them happy.
We all know people whose attitude as they grow older in life is more than a little on the negative side. They are ‘settlers’. Rather than expect the good things in life, they are willing to settle for good enough in places to live, second careers, cars, and even relationships. They give up too easily and never really get what they do want.
‘Good enough’ and happiness are not a good mix.
Surprisingly, getting the best for yourself doesn’t have a lot to do with how much money you spend. In fact, it has everything to do with self-love and the knowledge that you deserve having the best you can get. Knowing that you are worth having what will make you happier is not selfish, it is simply common sense. To get the best often means that you have to be determined to follow your heart and counsel and not simply settle for less.
What you are actually doing by settling for good enough is giving yourself permission to take only second-best in every area of your life from friendships to careers. Sometimes it comes down to lack of self-worth — you feel, erroneously, that you don’t deserve anything better — that getting what you want is something for other people. Stop it! You deserve the best you can get.
Remember that quote at the top of this article? The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for.
It is one that you should remember every time you think good enough is an acceptable alternative. Be satisfied to satisfy yourself and never settle for anything that is only ‘good enough’. At any age we have enter, any time of our lives, we should never settle — for anything.
copyright 2022 Kristen Houghton all rights reserved from The Cate Lifestyle
