Are you settling? You want to know some of the worst advice I have ever heard in my life? “Don’t aim too high, you’ll never be disappointed.”
It’s difficult for me to accept that some people actually believe and live by this credo. They set average, easily achievable goals because they know that they will always be able to meet them. Unfortunately, in today’s world, average goals will never get you ahead. Nor will they inspire you. And inspiration is what ENERGIZES you to focus and achieve your goal.
Average goals will always lead to mediocre results. effort is going to follow your goal. Average goal - average effort. Although some people and business get by with mediocre results, they will never be truly successful. In order to reach the levels of success that we all dream of, you need to be willing to set your goals high. Maybe even higher than you believe you could achieve.
Of course some might argue that, by adopting high goals, you could be setting yourself up for failure. And to that I say, “Yes. Failure is a great teacher.” Some of the most successful people in the world have failed time and time again. That doesn’t mean that they scaled back their dreams. It doesn’t mean they decided that average was good enough. They kept trying, learning, growing and going. It is the forward progress and learning from istakes where the genius lies.
Wake up your inner genius!
If you are thinking, “But that takes so much energy!” Yes. All great work takes energy. What is amazing is that when something is meaningful, effort is part of the joy that comes from accomplishment! And, it is not nearly as much effort to go for it, than to regret your ever did.
Nobody likes rejection or the feeling that they’ve failed to meet their objectives. But every time you aim high and really work to reach those goals, you learn something that pushes you further ahead. You get better. And soon, those goals that once seemed so high will suddenly be your new normal!
Let me put it this way: Say you are studying for a test. You know that, if you aim for getting an 80, you will be able to do it no problem. It’s an average goal. But what if you were aiming for a 100? You might not be able to reach that goal, but by aiming for it, you probably get a 90 or 95.
By shooting high, you will almost always be able to achieve a better result than if you simply did what you thought was achievable.
My point is that aiming high doesn’t necessarily mean that you will achieve everything you were hoping for. But you will definitely achieve more than you would if you simply settled for mediocre results. By keeping your expectations high and your goals ambitious, you will constantly be working to exceed them. In both the business world and in life, you should never think, “Good enough.” You should always think “How can I do this even better?”
That is the resilient mindset that generates success!
“Great performance starts with simple steps you do every day. Begin now. No excuses.”
Performance Expert. Pioneer of the Resilient Mindset. Executive Coach. Having worked with hundreds of leaders, Dr. Howard has developed a model of leadership effectiveness that unleashes the authentic presence of leaders for better outcomes, consistently.