For Mentors Only: Inspiring Youth

[John Neun]

Originally Posted by petek

I have a pet motto I keep trying to remind myself which I think is relevant:

Better is the enemy of good enough.

I bet a lot of us (mentors and students) got into this line of work first because we wondered how things work, and stayed in it because we thought "I can make that work better". Thus starts a life-long battle between perfection and time. So far, time is ahead.

"Better is the enemy of Good Enough." I must confess, I have never heard that before, but it is something we should have posted where all can see it. Good one!

Sometimes even the most capable students can't live up to their own estimations of their capabilities. I am of course guilty of this, too, but as we get older and experience more failures, our assessment of our own skills becomes more realistic, or at least more humble. I wish I had the blissful self-confidence of some of our students, even if it is a little delusional. It's all part of the process.