“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – African proverb
You can only go so far, or accomplish so much, on your own. It takes teamwork to achieve something great.
Teams (especially large teams with many decision-makers) can take a long time to decide and act on something. It is easier to move quickly when your team is small or you’re by yourself. But you will be limited by your time, energy, and mental capabilities if you only work alone. If you work with a team, with each team member having their own strengths and bringing something valuable to the team, you can achieve something larger than any one person.
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” – E.E. Cunning
It can be very scary to ask that person out, to leave your job, to chase your dreams (or even to say them out loud). But without even attempting to do those things almost guarantees those things won’t happen. Sure, it might be more comfortable to do nothing. But without discomfort, you will never achieve your greatest goals.
My dad used to say that everyone experiences fear. They feel it too, whether they show it or not. You’re not alone. But it’s what you do with that fear that matters. Will you run from it? Or will you face it?
Don’t let fear stop you from living the life you’re meant to. Courage is the resistance to fear, not the absence of it. Be courageous. Stand up for what you believe in and take that next step towards living out your dreams.
“Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.” Theodore Roosevelt
Be a dreamer. Set lofty goals. But no matter what the outcome, stay grounded. Remember your roots – where you came from and who your true friends are.
As you gain success, popularity, and prestige, people will treat you differently. It will feel good. But just like there are bandwagon fans for sports teams, there are people that will jump to support you when everything is going well and run away/speak negatively of you when things are going poorly.
No matter where you are in life, always treat people with respect and never compromise your values.
Perfectionism is the killer of dreams. It kills dreams before they even get started because nothing will ever be perfect. If you wait for everything to be perfect to take action, or if you keep tweaking something and decide not to launch it because it’s not perfect, you’ll never end up doing anything.
Instead of waiting for perfect, just take action! Action is almost always better than inaction. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t overthink. Don’t let outside circumstances dictate what you can do. Just do it. You may stumble and fall along the way, but as long as you keep getting up and trying again, you’ll be ahead of where you would have been if you never tried. And who knows, maybe you’ll stumble over something better than you ever expected…
“Keep on going and chances are you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I have never heard of anyone stumbling on something sitting down.” – Charles Kettering
Will you choose to be comfortable or to try to reach your potential?
Have you ever noticed that we make the most improvement when we are forced outside of our comfort zones? If that’s the case though, why aren’t we always pushing the limits of our comfort zones? It’s simple. It’s because we are creatures of comfort. Who doesn’t want to sleep in a warm, cozy bed? Or to not feel the pain of an intense workout? Of course we tend to stay within our comfort zones – it’s easier!
This is not to say that you always have to be going 100 mph in every area of your life, because at that rate you’re bound to burn out. But in order to move from average, mediocre, or good enough, to excellence, you can’t be complacent. Jim Collins said, “Good is the enemy of great. That’s why so few things become great.” Isn’t that the truth? So often we do just enough to get by – we’re ok with good, so we don’t push to be great. Good is comfortable. Great is difficult.
As I was reading the other day, I came across this quote by Benjamin Mays. He said, “The tragedy of life is often not in our failure, but rather in our complacency; not in our doing too much, but rather in our doing too little; not in our living above our ability, but rather in our living below our capacities.” It echoes the same sentiment that Jim Collins describes above. We all have so much potential that we never live up to. Make sure you don’t waste your time here by not pursuing your dreams.
I’d rather fail trying than to never have tried at all. We will stumble when we have lofty goals. We’ll be uncomfortable at times. But remember, there is no growth without discomfort.
