Is enough, ever enough for you?

[MrSquared]

Just out of curiosity...

Professional, creative or vocational restlessness. Is this a thing for you? Specifically my fellow INFJs? Do you ever feel as if you could be, so you ought to be doing more somehow?

Regardless of your type...I'd really enjoy seeing and reading any/all responses/reflections regarding this topic.

I only ask because I feel like I occasionally get to see my own mental loops at play. To me this appears as a cycle which reoccurs every couple of months. I go from contentment, to laziness, to ambition, to perceived realization that I could be doing more, to actually returning to a previously established path...

After which I generally achieve some minor, get a small boost of self-accomplishment and then I go right back to contentment. #loop

Any thoughts out there?

 

[the]

I feel like this all the time, but im not infj.

 

[Sandie33]

restlessness

I believe we all have a sense of restlessness at times.

 

[Wyote]

I get caught up in this from time to time and recently I was dealing with something irritating in this regard when my gf gave me some pretty useful and simple advice that has helped me.
My problem is that I want to already be somewhere, some place of excellence or perfection. It becomes a stopper which is bad obviously.
To sort of counteract this mind state, my gf told me to remember that the point is not to "max out," because nobody maxes out.
You just keep going steadily. Continuing to improve is the point, not maxing out. Don't strive for impossible, strive for what's obtainable.
On the surface, I understand this pretty well, but it's hard to absorb subconsciously and having this sort of mantra is helpful for me to not get anxious about percieved failures.

 

[Wyote]

Nobody starts at zero, nobody maxes out.
There is no god mode or restart button.

Spoiler: There is only Love

 

[Wyote]

Spoiler: Also

 

[Asa]

Nobody starts at zero, nobody maxes out.
There is no god mode or restart button.

Yas! <3



@SeanSquared – Yes, I know what you are talking about. Normally, I'm pretty good at setting goals and meeting them and good at weeding out things that get in the way, so the important things are done, and done properly. Currently I am in an, "I'm not good enough, so why bother!" stage that I am struggling to break free from.
I do usually think that no matter what it is, I could be doing more, and be doing it better, whether it is my work, generosity, housework, exercise....

 

[Wyote]

"I'm not good enough, so why bother!"

 

[MrSquared]

My problem is that I want to already be somewhere, some place of excellence or perfection. It becomes a stopper which is bad obviously.
To sort of counteract this mind state, my gf told me to remember that the point is not to "max out," because nobody maxes out.
You just keep going steadily. Continuing to improve is the point, not maxing out. Don't strive for impossible, strive for what's obtainable.
On the surface, I understand this pretty well, but it's hard to absorb subconsciously and having this sort of mantra is helpful for me to not get anxious about percieved failures.

This....this is good.

Thank you for this!

 

[IzYou]

Enough is never enough for me, gotta keep advancing

 

[Rcs6r]

Enough is never enough!

 

[Pin]

Just out of curiosity...

Professional, creative or vocational restlessness. Is this a thing for you?

Yes, the free-market doesn't care if I'm tired. If I don't deliver, my contract will be terminated. Hard work makes economic sense.

 

[Disguised]

Struggled with meaninglessness for my whole life basically so I can definitely relate. I lived with the feeling of that I could accomplish anything but nothing was worth the trouble, it wasn't enough. There was too much perfectionism which was countered eventually by the feeling of good enough. I can't say that I'd be very productive all the time either, but it's a choice rather than laziness. I can be super productive as I can be über procrastinating.

My problem was that I didn't put much value on thinking at all as no one else did either. Thinking isn't something you can put a price tag on anyways. Now I know though that patience is a virtue worth keeping. Questioning and overthinking at times put barriers that slow you down and blur the goal. Now everything is enough as future remains bright.

 

[Ginny]

At the time where I wrote my thesis, I took way too much time to wait for inspiration. But I can't seem to change that in the initial weeks. I always have trouble with finding the right words to start. Then I had made some sort of daily quota which I was supposed to reach, and was content with my work once I reached it. At that point I was completely relaxed. Only my mind was constantly keeping that task running in the background, rethinking what I wrote and trying different wordings, sentence formations, etc. Once I was done with the thesis, and couldn't change anything anymore, my mind still hadn't come to realise it and still had the background task running. It's a way of thinking which keeps me from being content with the work I have done. I would still like to work on it, to perfect it, so I can be proud of it. But knowing that there is nothing I can change, it's slightly depressing and I get into that Ne shadow-thinking: "If only I had started writing earlier..." and so on. I know it's bullshit, since I probably wouldn't have had those ideas for those specific changes any earlier than I had, but still - I can't seem to shut it off. On the other hand, it also keeps my expectations heavily grounded, though admittedly a little too far below my hopes, which kind of distorts the image of a proper prediction (which in turn would be somewhere in the middle, but the farther those two are apart, the less accurate the prediction is in the end). I hope you get my meaning, this imagery was a little analytic. Lately my academic predictions (in terms of grades) have been a little off, mostly because of unknown variables. I hope this torture ends soon, because that thinking is just wearing on my nerves.

Now that that background task has seemed to run out (it's now been almost a week - I'm probably out of RAM , since I'm using that analogy), I am getting restless because I've got almost nothing to do to keep my mind occupied. I know the mass of ideas that are in my head, the possibilities and responsibilities, but I have no plan yet for the order in which to proceed from here. And this raises the levels of feeling inadequate, that I should do more, while I can. But I need some plan, some organised procedure, by level of importance, which helps me get off my arse and on to work. Only for that to be done I have to sort out my priorities.

So, there is a sustained feeling of inadequacy, with different sources at different times. But it is a constant companion, which I can use to propel me forward, if we can ever settle our differences and be friends. A little perfectionism can't hurt, but being too self-assured can, because that is the point where you'll stop trying to surpass youself, which is something you should never do.

 

[SeekerSeeking]

I pretty much feel enough is enough. I wake up each day, and before I bound out of bed--typically I'm an awake=standing person--I try and remind myself to be grateful to have this day to write on. That's exciting. I have a blank sheet in front of me... Also, enough feels like enough ever since I made friends with just 'being.' Just sitting in whatever is there at the moment and appreciating it. But, that's just me....