“A 100-foot long boat that’s 99% complete is going to sink before it leaves the dock. That gaping hole is more than enough to do it in.
On the other hand, a baked ziti that’s 99% as good as the best baked ziti ever made is exactly good enough to serve in any setting. …
We should be clear about which category we’re working in.” –Seth Godin1
If you’re the kind of person who struggles with perfectionism, Godin’s framework is often helpful. Instead of asking yourself, “Am I being a perfectionist?” ask yourself, “Will it sink the boat?”
There are many scenarios in life where perfection is necessary – where one mistake can ruin the whole enterprise. Surgery, rocket ships, bridges, submarines, electrical wiring. A jar of peanut butter that’s 99% free of broken glass isn’t good enough. A salad that’s 99% free of salmonella will still give you food poisoning.
But there are far more scenarios where perfection isn’t necessary at all – where it’s easy to recover from mistakes, iterate, and improve. Entrepreneurship, writing, learning, sports, organization, social interaction. In the vast majority of life, falling short of perfection won’t sink the boat.
A productivity system that’s even 90% effective is massively better than what most people are doing, which is certainly good enough. A habit-formation strategy that works 90% of the time is wildly better than using raw willpower. Focusing on the 10% of cases where it won’t work is foolish.
How Much Does the Final Bit Matter?
If you’re just a social drinker, and you aim to be sober 99% of the time, that’s perfectly healthy. But if you’re an alcoholic, and you aim for 99% sobriety, that’s a recipe for relapse. Some things require 100% commitment. Being 99% monogamous could certainly be enough cheating to sink your marriage.
90% of a full workout is still a great workout, but if you’re running a marathon and you quit 90% of the way through, you can’t really say you ran a marathon. You still had over two and a half miles to go. Climbing 99% of the way to the top of Everest is a major accomplishment, but it’s not quite the same as reaching the summit.
But that’s not to say you have to go all the way every time. It’s important to ask yourself what that last bit will cost? People have died because they refused to turn around when they were 99% of the way to the top of Everest, when the weather turned bad and they needed to turn back. The final 10% of your workout could be what pushes your body over the edge, causing an injury.
More often, it’s about your mental health. How much stress is the final 1% causing you? Can you just dust your hands off and call the project “good enough?” And again, good enough means the boat will float: the product will do its job, the customers will be satisfied, and no one will get hurt.
If you’re 90% of the way to your ideal appearance, you’re plenty attractive. Let the last 10% go. Striving for it is not a good use of your time, and it’s psychologically unhealthy. Cosmetic imperfections never sink boats.
When the Boat Can Never Be Finished
Sometimes, perfection represents an asymptote: an ideal you can approach but never truly reach.
In athletics, art, and music, there is always room for improvement. You can spend your whole life striving for greater and greater mastery. There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, it’s an admirable pursuit, just as long as you know you’ll never get there.
And, along the way, you get to see yourself as good enough because whatever shortcomings you have aren’t going to sink the boat.
1Godin, Seth. “99% might be enough (or not).” Seth’s Blog. June 20, 2026.
Chris Loper has been writing about self-improvement and helping busy adults with habit formation since 2017.
He also writes an education blog for parents and students for Northwest Educational Services.
Along with Greg Smith, Chris is the cocreator of Parenting for Academic Success, a series of transformative classes that create empowered parents, confident students, and harmonious families.
His most recent endeavor combines his academic and habit-formation expertise to help students thrive in college. Visit SmartCollegeHabits.com to learn more.
In 2021, Chris published a humorous memoir titled Wood Floats and Other Brilliant Observations, a book that blends crazy stories with practical life lessons.
He lives in Issaquah, WA where he is the owner of South Cove Tutoring.