Never Be Satisfied
Neither do they light a candle,
and put it under a bushel,
but on a candlestick and it gives light
unto all that are in the house.
- Matthew 5:15
Being satisfied. I think this is one of the hardest things I have had to deal with during my coaching career and the single biggest issue that I confront daily as a motivational professional.
I know that everyone has the right to be who they want to be. Everyone has their own idea of what success looks like. But what happens when you sell yourself short? The great artist and sculptor, Michaelangelo once said, “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting out aim too high and falling short, but setting our aim too low and achieving our mark.”
I’m not talking about those who have become “stuck”. Those who are stuck have greater dreams but don’t know how to move forward to achieve them.
What I am talking about is those who have sold themselves short. They do what they have set their goals too short and have obtained them. To use my Crayon Analogy, they have used only a few of their crayons (talent/skills), but have a box full of unused crayons that are crying out to be used.
I have seen people who were so proud when they were the first person in their family to graduate high school. I get excited and ask, “So, where are you going to college?” And most of the time they stare back at me and say, “College?” Like I just made up a new word. Their dream was to graduate high school. After that, they had no plan.
The same happens to those who have the dream to go to college. They get into college and they have no idea what to do next. “What degree are you pursuing?” “Huh?” they respond. I love when they come back with a degree in “Business”. And I ask, “What part of the business world are you interested in?” Again … “Huh? Um, I don’t know, I was just getting it in business.”
You might be surprised to hear that even at the highest levels of sports, people become satisfied. Some had a dream to play college sports. When they get to that level they stop working. Their goal had been satisfied.
Even in the NFL. Young people make a professional team and they stop working. They’ll work when they have to, but during the time off they spend their hard-earned money buying too many cars, extravagant houses, taking numerous vacations, and throwing dice in Vegas. Instead of keeping their body in shape so that they can continue to earn at the highest level for as long as they are able to hold on (97% who make an NFL roster play for less than three years).
When I work with these types of people, they get very defensive about their place and their dreams. I try and try to point out all of the crayons they have and how they can be used to continue to push their boundaries and eventually to lift others around them and make this world better. Nope, they dig their heels in the ground and say they are living their dream. And they have no plans after they finish what they were doing.
