There are only 2 categories for you to be concerned about:
1-Good Enough
2-Great
You don’t need to be great at everything. You CAN’T be great at everything. Don’t even try.
You only have a finite amount of time and energy. Focus on improving what counts.
Being “good enough”, for many things, is well, good enough.
I’m a good enough handyman. I’m a good enough camper. I’m a good enough dog trainer.
Let’s be clear–being good enough at something isn’t a bad thing. It’s still good!
Good enough=sufficient.
Good enough=meeting expectations.
The thing is, there are some areas of life where we SHOULD strive to be GREAT (Category #2), where “good enough” ISN’t good enough.
You can decide what these categories are for you. I would recommend a few:
-strive to be a great spouse
-strive to be a great parent
-strive to be a great adult-child (honor your parents, forever)
-strive be a great friend
-strive be a great boss (if you are one)–even better, a great leader
-strive to be great employee
-strive to be a great citizen
Notice I say strive. We all know that becoming great is BECOMING great–a process of growth over time.
And, notice that all of these areas have to do with people. Of course, this is MY list–your list may not be as people-related–but in my head, most of the greatness we strive for should benefit others. Just sayin’.
Of course, there IS a third category that I haven’t mentioned– “NOT meeting expectations”. Nobody wants to be in this category for the important things in life, but again, it depends.
I’m a horrible car mechanic. But that’s OK, I don’t need to be. I have a great mechanic that I’m happy to pay to take care of my car.
Being in Category 3 is OK if:
a-it’s not something important to you
b-it IS important, but you can have other people take care of this for you.
Avoid Category 3 for all other reasons.
Instead, focus on the first two categories. Be good enough in the areas of life where that’ll do.
And for the rest? Strive for greatness, of course.