Year 1 | Issue 1 | August 2025 | Anglo-Saxon®

By Marcos Lagos Suárez – Chile

“Sometimes good isn’t good enough.” This striking line from an episode of Suits —one of my favorite series— captures a harsh truth about competition at the highest level. In the scene, Sheila Sazs asks Louis Litt to pull a resume from a stack on her desk. All of them belong to applicants to Harvard University. As Louis quickly scans several, he notices that each candidate boasts not only outstanding academic records but also exemplary personal qualities. Turning back, he begins, “Listen, I get it, I know what…,” only to be cut off by Sheila’s sharp reply: “That’s my reject pile.”

“Sometimes, good is not good enough.” It is a phrase we hear often, but few truly understand its weight. In business, sports, education, or any performance-driven field, most of us spend years chasing excellence—only to find that despite our best efforts, real success often remains just out of reach. Why? Because improvement is not about doing more—it’s about doing better.

First, improving is not about memorizing thousands of pages or repeating the same technique until you are exhausted. It is about understanding the root of the problem. Real progress comes from identifying what did not work, correcting it, and refining your approach—not blindly repeating the same moves. Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, said: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Second, stop mourning every failure. Spilled milk does not refill itself. Every setback is a learning opportunity. Winners do not waste their most valuable asset—time—on regret. They turn weakness into strength and mistakes into stepping stones.

So yes, sometimes good isn’t good enough. But here is the good news: it does not have to stay that way.

If you commit to learning from your mistakes, sharpen your technique, and stay focused on your goal, you will turn potential into progress—and progress into success.

Excellence is not born—it is built.

– English Magazine