It’s hard to be great. Greatness, whether it’s being a Mom, Dad, Coach, Boss, Wife, Husband or whatever else imaginable takes effort. Not just a little effort and you’re done. No, greatness comes from the grind. The grind of being consistent, having a plan, working a plan and testing the plan. Monitoring your success and measuring where you stack up based on your original outline.
Now, I realize most people when thinking about greatness associate this with sports or business. But truth be told, you can aspire to be great in every aspect of your life. It’s certainly not easy and more days than not you will feel like you are so close yet so far away. Heck, some days you may feel like everything has aligned and you have achieved Lama status only to wake up the next day and re calibrate.
That’s life, for better or worse, that’s the journey. When I hear things like life is short, it makes me ponder. Is it? For some, obviously the answer is yes, but for most of us, life is long. It most certainly feels long when you are living in the moment. No, I am not some Yogi suggesting that you practice mindfulness (although it wouldn’t hurt). I am talking about measuring your life. Your complete life. Your financial, spiritual, professional, personal, physical, emotional life. When you connect and grade yourself on every level and when you take the time, actually commit to taking the time to rank your ups and downs, you start to understand how to live in the moment.
Listen, I get it. It’s difficult enough to wake up, get the kids ready, get to work, plan for lunches, dinners and the occasional workout. Life is busy. As a father, husband, boss, brother, son, coach and mentor, my life can get a little hectic. In order to strive for greatness, I must live in the moment and offer as much as I can to the people who actually care about me. I must understand how I stack up to the man I know I can be.
I encourage you to take a moment and write down everything important to you. Just write it all down, I think you will be amazed at the volume of your life. Next, give yourself a grade from A to F. How are your finances? Maybe an A. How are you doing professionally at work? Perhaps also an A, but because you have been working so hard, perhaps your family life is a B. You get the idea. The goal is to shoot for A’s. Not what someone else believes you are, but how you see yourself. Be honest with yourself, shut off the social media for a moment and be honest with how you measure up to your own expectations.
As they say, enjoy the journey, not the destination. I hope you strive for greatness, I hope you capture the moments and I hope you finish with straight A’s. Cheers
About the Author
Shaun Enders is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Transition Staffing Group located in San Diego. Shaun is extremely passionate about recruiting and developing others to bring out the best version of themselves.