What a concept! Since joining an overhead line crew at the start of this year, I’ve heard the phrase “let it ride” every couple of weeks. At first, the idea grated against me because it means “good enough.”

“Good enough” has never been good enough for me. Whether it was school, playing sports, rolling in jiu-jitsu, officiating, and especially in my professional work, I have a vision of good and am rarely satisfied by anything falling short of that lofty vision. Problem is, the real world isn’t designed to calm my mind. I’ve been stuck in the middle of a brawl between reality and my expectations, until I heard my foreman say “let it ride” after I strapped down a transformer to the back of my utility truck.

I ratcheted the straps tighter and tighter, until my foreman said that was more than enough. He’s strapped down enough of these things to know when enough is enough, but I was nervous. I wanted to make sure that this expensive piece of equipment wouldn’t hop off the truck after hitting a pothole in downtown Atlanta. He flicked the strap and said: “let it ride.”

Sometimes practicality must win over perfection. This is anathema to an anxious perfectionist like myself, and is the mindset that crushes the self-worth of students and professionals who want to regularly do nearly perfect work. The idea is that even if I’m not turning in a perfect product, by doing everything possible to achieve perfection, my work will be vastly superior to any one else’s. This is an excellent recipe for burnout because it has long-term diminishing returns that do not become obvious until the person is a nervous wreck.

I can tighten a transformer only so much before I risk breaking a bushing.

I can spend only so much time tying every available rope to the transformer while my crew looks at me like I’m nuts.

Sometimes, I just have to “let it ride.” Accelerate and break easily, take turns slowly, and be fiercely aware of any potholes in my path.

2021 has been a year of accepting that work can be good enough, and that good enough is usually sufficient. I’ve found myself saying “let it ride” in other areas of my life. When I feel like I’m behind on emails, or I haven’t invoiced a client because I’m exhausted. I remind myself that I’ll get where want to go, but I cannot obsess over every small detail 100% of the time. I don’t have the mental or emotional capacity to pull that off anyway. What I can do is be more honest with myself. Acknowledge when I truly have done all I can and the only thing left to do is “let it ride.”