When Less Is More: Reclaiming Joy by Letting Go of Perfect

Written by Anne Johnson: November 28, 2025

Somewhere along the way, many of us adopted an unspoken rule: “Give 100% to everything.”
At first, it sounds noble, heck, even inspiring. But in practice, it’s exhausting. And often, it quietly steals the joy we’re working so hard to create.

In today’s world, solutions come in seconds, information flows instantly, and expectations for productivity have only risen. Yet our capacity as human beings has not magically expanded. We still have the same 24 hours, the same energy, the same need for rest and connection. And trying to give everything our all usually means giving ourselves nothing.

For years, I lived this way, believing that every task deserved maximum effort.
Motherhood, work, church service, running a household, caring for others… everything felt essential. Everything felt urgent. Every expectation that lived in my head made sure I always remembered…give your all best to be your best. And each night I collapsed into bed knowing tomorrow would demand the same impossible standard. That was okay though, because I had justified that one day, my best would make it all worth it.

Joy wasn’t just missing, it had been pushed out by perfectionism.

The breaking point came during a season of heavy responsibility: running a preschool with 24-hour care, serving as Relief Society President, raising children while my husband was deployed, military spouse volunteer work, and doing it all in an isolated New York winter. Women around me would ask how I managed it. What they didn’t know was that I didn’t. I was surviving at the expense of peace, happiness, and any sense of being “enough.”

One day, my father-in-law asked a question that pierced right through my practiced smile:
“Are you happy?”
I said yes, but my heart whispered no.

Then he said something that shifted everything:
“You always have a choice. You can do ten things well, or a hundred things poorly. But not every effort requires 100% of you.”

That truth cracked perfectionism’s hold on me.

I began experimenting with what I call strategic effort.
A sloppily folded towel is still a folded towel.
Toy strewn floors don’t cancel the laughter that made the mess.
A spontaneous neighborhood potluck is still a dinner, and often a richer one.

When I stopped giving 100% to giving 100%, I found something I hadn’t felt in years: joy.

This didn’t mean lowering my standards in the areas that mattered most. It meant choosing what truly deserved my best and allowing “good enough” to be enough everywhere else. It meant recognizing that a marginal effort can often create a 100% solution. It also meant I had to face the reality that most expectations came from my sense of perfection and not from others.

And here's the surprising part:
Life became more beautiful, more peaceful, and more meaningful when I stopped trying to make it flawless.

An Invitation for You

Where in your life are you giving energy that doesn’t need your full capacity?
What tasks could receive 50%, 60%, or even 30%, and still serve you well?
Where would you rediscover joy if you released the pressure of perfection?

You have a choice.
You can trade busyness for presence.
Exhaustion for intention.
Perfection for joy.

And in doing so, you may just find that your “less” becomes the most life-giving more you’ve experienced in years.