“For, in the end, it is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work.” ~ Jim Collins, Good to Great
Don’t get me wrong, I like “good” as in good friends, good food, good conversation and so on. Good is not bad, it’s well… good but what happens when good is replaced with great?
A whole new world of possibilities opens up and you are presented with GOOD on steroids!
For me good to great went like this; I had a corporate job, making good money with good benefits and had worked very hard to move up the corporate ladder. As a woman I was making a top salary and had moved into a management position as the only female on the management team. All of this without a college degree.
I was living the American dream, secure corporate job, had recently remarried and was raising two kids. Things were good.
One morning though all of that changed when I realized that good wasn’t good enough for me anymore. I was ready to work hard for my dream of owning my own business and good had to move out of the way for GREAT to enter. So I left behind the security of the good job to pursue great and never looked back. Scary. Yes it was but with an overwhelming sense of this is where my life needed to be going.
When you decide to move from good to something great, the people close to you will not see your change as a good thing. They will think you are crazy for giving up that really secure job, relationship or opportunity that was good for something they can’t even envision as great.
This is where you have to remember it’s not their “great” it’s yours. Smile and keep moving toward great.
Great takes work and making that move toward it isn’t for everyone, sometimes good is where you need to be. But if the tug of something better and greater keeps nagging at you, are you going to walk away?
What I saw in my decision was the dream of owning my own business, helping people through my massage work and working very hard for myself and my dreams, not someone else. And 21 years later that is exactly what I have done and continue to do, loving each great moment.
But does it stop there? Nope because once you move from good to great, things keep happening that challenge you to keep moving into greatness. Once you are there you won’t look back, I promise!
Each journey from good to great is personal, unique and a choice. No one says that you have to quit your job and start your own business, good to great may be as simple as:
- Making serious changes to your eating habits and working with a nutritionist.
- Taking your exercise to the next level by hiring a personal trainer.
- Stop the “I’ll do that (write, take an art class, etc.) when I have time” and just do it!
- Show up for the time you set aside for yourself every day and honor it as if you were giving that time to someone you love. (you are that someone)
- Decide what and who really needs to be in your life and start setting better boundaries.
Great has big rewards along with the work even in the simple things in our lives. Are you ready to move from good to great in one area of your life? Even when Resistance comes knocking? I would love to hear your comments in the comment section, on what area of your life you are ready to move to greatness and what will be your first step? Share the love of this post with someone who would also like to move into great and be each other’s support system. Your life is calling!