Volume 3, Issue 4 - April 2002

Are You Good Enough?

What we cannot do is settle for "good enough".

Do you ever sit back and look at life and say "This is Perfect'? I hope that occasionally this happens to you - that you are perfectly satisfied, that life is exactly what you pictured it to be, and that you are truly happy.

What we cannot do is settle for "good enough". Good enough is the enemy of great. People just accept that this will do. Now don't get me wrong, I believe we should be happy with what we have. We just can't become complacent about it. Don't ever get to the point where you stop growing as an individual. Don't ever say "but that's the way it has always been".

Years ago I became complacent with my job. At the time I had a toddler at home, I was making good enough (not great, but good enough) money, and I knew my job really well. I was able to be up all night long with Christopher if necessary, and still perform well in my job. I was good enough. The problem was that I stopped growing as an employee and as a person.

Well, when this company downsized (as so many of us have experienced) I quickly realized that "good enough" for ABC Company wasn't good enough for anyone else. I really looked at my qualifications and realized what I had done. 3 years earlier I was very qualified to move around if necessary. When I started to become complacent, my skills very quickly became average, normal, everyday stuff! In a tough economy that makes finding another job (especially the well paid ones) very difficult to do.

My son Patrick is one of those students who can get a straight "B" average without ever studying or doing homework. Last week when his report card came, it was straight "B's" because he had put zero effort into his homework. When we asked him what he thought about it, his response is "It's good enough". We didn't need to say much and he realized that that wasn't good enough for mom and dad. He could have come home with all C's and I would have been thrilled if he had put effort into it. The actual mark wasn't important - it was the "good enough" attitude that we didn't like.

Is your life where you want it to be, or is it "good enough". Do yourself a favour, and put a little effort into making your own decisions and choices. You'll be pleasantly surprised and motivated to be true to yourself.

Rhonda Scharf (Finniss) is a Professional Speaker, Trainer and Consultant and President of ON THE RIGHT TRACK - Training & Consulting and is available to deliver customized workshops or keynote speeches at your next convention. Call today at 1-877-213-8608 or e-mail Rhonda@on-the-right-track.com. Since you are now visiting her site, sign up here for her complimentary quarterly newsletter.