“Pwede Na” is a Filipino mentality that means good enough. It is however not your literal “good enough” in English. It is “good enough” when you know you could do a better job, but choose not to. For a lot of Filipinos, we grew up hearing this phrase, probably even uttered the phrase ourselves. When the challenge to work on something and finish it is rising, a lot of us have heard ourselves say, “pwede na yan!”

I was recently having a conversation with some students who had a school project. They were all pressed for time, and wanted all their requirements done so they can move on. One of them tried to ease their burden by saying, it should be fairly ok, all they need to do is submit a simple one and get a passing mark, such as a 2.0 or a 2.5. The highest grade is 1.0. I candidly told them, that one point is the difference between an exemption from the final exam and not. Apparently their professor gave the exemption as an incentive for them to do well.

Thinking of that conversation, I realize how prevalent this mentality is to a lot of people, not just Filipinos. When the going gets tough, some of us look for the easy way out. We no longer dream or aspire for that which takes a lot of pain to achieve. We aim for the grade, but never for the best that we can. As a result, we short change ourselves and never fulfill our potential.

How do we change it?

We need to dream again. Our young people need to learn the art of dreaming, and doing whatever it takes to fulfill their dreams. They need to be given merit, not simply based on their grade, but on whether they gave it their best. The drive to give one’s best, the passion to excel and turn everything we touch to gold, these are character traits that need to be instilled in everyone, especially the next generation.

We need to work hard. We have to relearn the meaning of the words, “don’t give up.” To work hard with the intent of finishing a job well done. To give our best every single day, with or without a seeming reward. Relearn the mindset of working because we have a vision and not because there’s a bundy clock. Workers need to learn to care for the work they do, not just their tenure on the job.

So how do we do this? By refusing daily to give in to the “pwede na” mentality, because “pwede na” is never good enough.