Pursuing Greatness

When was the last time anyone used the word “great” when they were describing you?  I was struck by this thought this morning when our son Austin’s coach said how much they loved having him on the track team, “He is a great kid!”

Do people describe our country as being great?  Our family?  Our children?  Do we live in great neighborhoods - that are a part of great communities?  Do we work at great companies?  Do we play on great teams?  Are we still making great advances?  Are we pursuing greatness?  For some of us, maybe we can still say we are a part of and pursuing great things.  Great!


He is a great leader…a great friend…a great coach… a great husband…a great father…a great neighbor…a great servant…a great mentor…a great trainer…a great teacher…a great doctor…a great motivator…a great investor…a great businessman…a great (enter anything you want to).

In his book Good to Great, author Jim Collins said, "Good is the enemy of great."  I agree - great lies well beyond good.  Anyone can achieve a good result - pursuing greatness takes more.  

You have to have a clear vision for what “greatness” looks like.  You have to know what you want to be great at.  You have to have a crystal clear picture of where you want to end up.  What the “end” looks like.  Don’t get caught up in the “how to”.  That can tend to limit your perception of what is possible.  You have to see in your mind what greatness looks smells and feels like.  Picture the end…the result. 

You have to have a passion for what you want to be great at.  You have to want it.  When things get difficult and your heart is not into something it is too easy to abandon the effort and accept a good result without the “heart” to achieve greatness.  I have met countless individuals in my life that didn’t really want to be great.  Some seem to not even want to be good.  I myself have struggled from time to time - accepting being "good" at something and taking my eye off the result – losing the desire or lacking the discipline to continue to pursue a “great” result.  Pursuing greatness takes passion.

You have to change.  What you did got you to where you are.  Where you are going will take a new and different set of behaviors.  This means change.  Get used to the discomfort that comes from trying new things.  You likely did it as a kid.  You didn’t have the skills it took to walk, ride a bike, climb a tree, or swim.  You tried news things to accomplish a new result.  You changed.  More of the same will simply get you more of the same.  Try less of the same and more of the new – change.

You have to pursue greatness.  Inactivity is not an option.  You don’t have to have a clear path to your result.  Just start.  You didn’t have a clear picture of how to get to the top of that tree as a kid.  You just started climbing.  The path became obvious to you as you climbed.  My challenge is not getting to the gym and working out every morning.  It is the first five seconds after I wake up – getting my feet to the floor in the direction of my workout clothes – inertia.  Start in the direction of your goal.  Just start.    

You have to accept failure.  Trying new things will result in failure from time to time.  That’s okay.  There is risk whether you stay the same or you pursue greatness.  Decide to choose a new set of risks.  Learn from your failures as opposed to avoiding them all together.  You likely fell many times attempting to ride that bike as a kid.  You simply increased your understanding along the way and eventually mastered the skill.  Have you been failing lately?  If not this is likely a sign you are not pursuing greatness.

Believe.  Believe you can accomplish the result - believe you can get there.  If you can’t believe, at least suspend the disbelief.  You don’t have any more information telling you that you can’t get where you want to go, so why not simply suspend the disbelief.  Either way believe or suspend your disbelief. 

Have fun.  Be in the moment to the best of your ability and enjoy the ride!  Don’t get caught up in thinking too much about the future, or worrying about how you will get there.  Just do what you need to do now - today - in pursuit of your vision, and have a blast doing it.  Believe it or not…you have everything it takes already inside you to make it.  Have a great day!

Bruce