By As human beings, we often find our careers falling victim to humbleness and self-consciousness. We are afraid to brag about our achievements and we don’t want people to dislike us because we think we are the best at something or other. But if you really are the best in the business? What if you really are the authority you think you aren’t? Then who is losing out? Shouldn’t you be shouting it from the rooftops that you offer the best deal, the best product, the best service, the best whatever! Why do we hold back? Forget humble and start moving toward hero.
When you think about your career, you might think that you are doing just fine. You might be happy with where you are at in your career and you might even have a small pathway planned for the rest of your days in corporate. But what if you blew those plans off the rails and start taking charge of your career in a way that blew people away instead of your best-laid plans? What if you started taking ownership for how awesome you are instead of shying away from it?
There’s nothing wrong with a little competition and sometimes people shy away from trying to be the best in the industry they play in because there is already someone else who is saying they are the best in the industry…but why can’t you be that person? Maybe you don’t have to be exactly the same as the other person, but you can bet your bottom dollar you can be just as good.
People take safe bets. We don’t like to get outside our comfort zone. We don’t like to reach outside ourselves to push ourselves further. But what happens when we challenge ourselves to be the best there is? What if you were the Michael Jordan of your industry? When flight engineers set out to build the fastest jet in the world, they don’t settle for the second fastest jet in the world. They do the thing they set out to do. Why can’t we all deliver more on the things we want for ourselves, instead of settling.
Whatever it is that you want in life, you can have it. And you can be the best. Don’t worry about what the other guys are doing: worry about how you can do it better. Worry about how you can bring yourself to the industry in a way that makes you stand out from the crowd. What are you doing differently? What are you doing better? Think about it. And then go get it. Don’t hold back anymore and get ready to amaze yourself, your clients, and your competition. If you set your sights on average, all you will ever be is average. If you set your sights on being the Michael Jordan or the fastest game in town, you’ll be the fastest game in town. Average is for the other guys. Not you.
