This kind of attitude is incredibly powerful, but also very rare. How many times have small letdowns, disappointments or obstacles beat us down, little by little? Many times without us even knowing it? Without mindfulness about our attitude, our direction and constant reassessment of our drive, we can get lost in the “okay”-ness of it all. And before we know it, years have gone by and we have drifted. We have done only what was in front of us, head down and grinding it out, never looking up in order to choose our direction.
For me personally, was to start building my individual sense of self-worth and that would come by starting my own business. I think on the whole I am pretty self-confident, even though I have my moments of insecurity. But what I learned was that in order to really, really get to the next level, I would have to OWN my potential. I think in many ways I had become complacent: “Ah, it’s fine. I’m fine. It’ll do. I am getting by ok, doing pretty good. It's normal to have a desk job. All my friends work 9-5 so why would I change” etc etc. But what I was actually doing was simply settling for good. Doing what I thought was acceptable to everyone around me, instead of what was going to make me happy. I remember when I was battling with myself daily to leave my job and finally pursue my passion and I heard someone say in passing, “Good is the enemy of great”. At that moment I realized I had no choice but to act on my passion and get out of my comfort zone. I believe that many of us (myself included) get comfortable in the “good”-ness of what we are doing, that we forget about our potential to strive for greatness. Of course, there is something to be said for being grateful and happy in the here and now–gratitude is invaluable in terms of our personal sense of fulfillment. But can we become too comfortable? Accept “goodness” when “greatness” is still a possibility? Are you ready to quit being good and start tackling greatness?
For me personally, was to start building my individual sense of self-worth and that would come by starting my own business. I think on the whole I am pretty self-confident, even though I have my moments of insecurity. But what I learned was that in order to really, really get to the next level, I would have to OWN my potential. I think in many ways I had become complacent: “Ah, it’s fine. I’m fine. It’ll do. I am getting by ok, doing pretty good. It's normal to have a desk job. All my friends work 9-5 so why would I change” etc etc. But what I was actually doing was simply settling for good. Doing what I thought was acceptable to everyone around me, instead of what was going to make me happy. I remember when I was battling with myself daily to leave my job and finally pursue my passion and I heard someone say in passing, “Good is the enemy of great”. At that moment I realized I had no choice but to act on my passion and get out of my comfort zone. I believe that many of us (myself included) get comfortable in the “good”-ness of what we are doing, that we forget about our potential to strive for greatness. Of course, there is something to be said for being grateful and happy in the here and now–gratitude is invaluable in terms of our personal sense of fulfillment. But can we become too comfortable? Accept “goodness” when “greatness” is still a possibility? Are you ready to quit being good and start tackling greatness?
Here are a few steps that you can do to maximize your potential....
Decide what you want to be great AT. Is it to have a bangin’ bod, the leanest of them all? Is it to go against your family grain and start living a healthy lifestyle? Is it to finally start a Blog on what you are passionate about? Is it to get your online business up and running? Is it to land a new job in a completely new field? Is it to make a move to another part of the world you have always wanted to live? Take time with this, key into your values and your purpose. If you want to have a lean and mean body, why? How does that add to your personal fulfillment and future goals? Write out your WHYS.
Get Focused. If you want to be successful, you have to get focused. That is true. You can do anything, but you can’t do everything. At least not at once. Get laser focused, and GET RID of extraneous stuff that does not propel you forward on your path to greatness.
Do SOMETHING. Like Nike says, just do it. Anything. Heard this week: “A good now is better than a perfect never.” Exactly. You can always adjust on the fly. But if you fail to get started, you can never learn, grow and get better. Start with something small and easy, build a sense of accomplishment, and then take on the biggest tasks later. Ready, fire, aim, aim, aim, aim….
Stay flexible. Be open to change. Just because you said you wanted one thing doesn’t mean you will always want that. Maintain awareness of your happiness, sense of fulfillment and excitement over what you are doing. You simply cannot become great at something you aren’t passionate about. The reason I encourage you to just getting started is that today you may not know what you are NOT passionate about until you begin.
Understand it will take time. It’s not luck. It’s preparedness + opportunity. Get your mind wrapped around the fact that in order to be great at something, you need focus, effort & expertise. These things take time to hone and develop. You cannot take your game to the next level overnight. But the good news for you is that you can start right THIS SECOND with ONE SMALL STEP, and you will be that much closer.