Necessary or Possible

Friday, May 24

For most of my life, I could do give average effort and find success. School came easy. I couldn’t be decent enough at sports. I did well and was promoted in jobs. All with pretty average effort.

I showed up. I did what was asked of me. I wanted to meet expectations so there was some care put into it. But I can’t say that I was trying as hard as I could. That I was giving my best effort.

And I thought it was pretty great. I was convinced that I was doing good work. And by the metrics set for me, I was.

At some point I realized that the person I was cheating​ was myself. I was limiting my potential. I was letting false metrics determine my effort. I had to flip my mindset from what was “necessary” to what was “possible” to accomplish.

And when I considered what was possible, my effort had to change. My level of care had to change. My standards had to change. What I was pursuing demanded more of me.

This, I believe, is what it looks like to pursue excellence. To pursue your best.

Maybe today you’re doing pretty well. You are hitting goals, accomplishing some things, feeling good. Maybe that success has, like it did for me, caused you to get comfortable. To go through the motions because you can.

What if today you decided to good enough isn’t good enough for you? What if today you decided to see what’s really possible? What would that require of you?
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Keep chopping wood. 🪵🪓

-Kevin