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August  8th

START   WITH    WHERE   THE WORLD   IS

“Do now what    nature  demands of  you.    Get right   to  it  if  that’s  in  your    power.  Don’t   look    around  to

see if  people  will    know    about   it. Don’t   await   the perfection  of  Plato’s Republic,   but be  satisfied

with    even    the smallest    step    forward and regard  the outcome as  a   small   thing.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS,   MEDITATIONS,    9.29.(4)

ave you ever heard the expression “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good enough”? The idea is not
to settle or compromise your standards, but rather not to become trapped by idealism.
The community organizer Saul Alinsky opens his book Rules for Radicals with a pragmatic but
inspiring articulation of that idea:

“As an  organizer   I   start   from    where   the world   is, as  it  is, not as  I   would   like    it  to  be. That    we

accept  the world   as  it  is  does    not in  any sense   weaken  our desire  to  change  it  into    what    we

believe it  should  be—it   is  necessary   to  begin   where   the world   is  if  we  are going   to  change  it  to

what    we  think   it  should  be.”

There is plenty that you could do right now, today, that would make the world a better place. There are
plenty of small steps that, were you to take them, would help move things forward. Don’t excuse yourself
from doing them because the conditions aren’t right or because a better opportunity might come along
soon. Do what you can, now. And when you’ve done it, keep it in perspective, don’t overblow the results.
Shun both ego and excuse, before and after.