Be Satisfied

Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy -- because we will always want to have something else or something more.

- Brother David Steindl-Rast

I am a perfectionist. I always want to make things better. In high school when I received 99% on an exam, I was more concerned about the 1% I did wrong than the 99% that I did right. I spent days wondering. Even now, I still remember that I only received 99% and someone else in my class got 100%. Since then, however, I have learned to be more pragmatic and that sometimes good enough is good enough.

Working in IT, I have found that there are always ways to improve how things work. Who doesn't have a thing or two that they want to tell Bill Gates? However, the question is not whether something is perfect, but is it good enough? The 80 / 20 rule is a constant in my line of work. Part of my job is differentiating needs from wants. If an 80% solution satisfies the needed requirements then it is good enough. Eighty percent of the work is in developing that last 20% of the functionality that would make it perfect. There has to be a large amount of business value in that last 20% in order to justify the time and cost to develop an automated solution over the cost of implementing a manual process that will satisfy the requirement. I have learned to be satisfied with 80% and not dwell on the 20% that would have made things perfect.

Studies have shown that people who are pragmatic are happier than those who are perfectionists. Pragmatic people are generally satisfied in finding and choosing things that meet their requirements; whereas, a perfectionist will search and search and expend much energy to find the item that is the best, even if some other item would have met their criteria. Perfectionists have difficulty making a decision, and when they do, they may dwell on it in case it was not the best decision.

I choose to be satisfied.

Satisfy your
Bright Star Dreams