More Good Than Bad — by Dan Lynn
By Dan Lynn
When I was building my company, I'd call my wife on the drive home. She'd ask how my day went, and my answer was almost always the same: "Good and bad — but more good than bad."
Here's the thing about building anything worthwhile: there's always some bad. Setbacks, problems, hard conversations — that's just the reality of it. If you expect every day to be all good, you'll quit the first time it isn't.
So that became my gauge. Not "was today perfect?" but "was there more good than bad?" As long as the answer is yes, keep driving forward. The bad is the price of admission; the good is the signal you're on the right path.
But it cuts both ways. If you hit a long stretch — not one rough week, but a real run — where it's always more bad than good, that's worth listening to. Sometimes that's the sign it's time to change course.
More good than bad. Keep going.
Questions this Key Learning answers
How do I stay motivated when building something feels hard?
The author accepts that setbacks, problems, and hard conversations are part of building anything worthwhile. Rather than asking whether each day was perfect, he asked whether it contained more good than bad. When the answer remained yes, the good served as a signal to keep moving forward despite the ordinary friction.
Should I change course after a really bad week?
The author distinguishes one rough week from a sustained run of more bad than good. Our analysis describes isolated difficult days as weak evidence because serious undertakings are naturally noisy. The better test is the direction of travel: tolerate ordinary setbacks, but pay attention when the unfavorable pattern continues.
How can I tell whether persistence is still worthwhile?
The author uses a simple running tally: is there still more good than bad? Our analysis suggests recording wins and setbacks because bad news can dominate memory. Persistence remains warranted while the underlying signals are favorable. When bad consistently outweighs good, it may be time to reassess using present evidence rather than past investment.