Happy Independence Day!

Today, in the United States, we celebrate our Independence Day. Two hundred and thirty-six years ago, Thomas Jefferson wrote we have the "unalienable right" to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Many of us won't be thinking about the Declaration of Independence or the meaning behind today's celebration, instead spending out time cooking, drinking, BBQing, socializing with family and friends and shooting off fireworks. There is nothing wrong with any of these things, in fact, I hope everyone spends today relaxing and doing the things they love to do.

We will probably never know all the intentions of the Founding Fathers (though we like to believe we do), but we can be certain they risked their lives for our freedom. The same can be said for the men and women (and dogs) who have served in our armed forces in the many wars and conflicts we have had since the Declaration was signed. Spend a few moments today thinking of the sacrifices countless people have made, seen and unseen, to allow your celebrations today.

No matter where you live or who you are, you have the chance to do something meaningful with your life. The choice is yours to do what you can to put your stamp on life. You can do little and sleepwalk through life or you can make the choice to do something great. This greatness doesn't have to be appear great or even be understandable to others. It only has to matter to you. We all have our own paths to follow, but the choice is yours to blaze a path that means something to you. A small group of people came together 236 years ago and started on the path to create a new country. They risked everything for a belief and we celebrate their bravery today.

Most of us probably won't have the opportunity to do something so monumental, but what we choose to do today will matter tomorrow. We have the ability to help create a better world for generations to come and leave a mark that will be remembered. The choice is in all of our hands. Do we continue to do the minimum required to get through life or do we want to celebrate life and actually live it? When we are older, do we really want to look back and say I made it through without taking many risks and without getting hurt? Or, would you rather look back and say I grabbed hold and lived my life and did things I never imagined were possible?

The choice is yours, but I urge you to spend a little time today to think about the life you are living. Think about all the sacrifices that have been made by others to give you the life you have. Find what really matters to you and do it. Figure out what sets your soul on fire each morning and do more of it. Dream amazing dreams and then chase them. Create amazing art to share with the world. Be who you want to be and don't let anyone else pull you down. We only have this one chance to get things right...what do you want to be remembered for doing?

Mediocrity

I had written another post about stress and didn't like what it was becoming, so I deleted it. Truth be known, it was mediocre and I couldn't stand the way it bounced around without a real theme and didn't really say anything. You, dear reader, deserve better than that. 

We often push out mediocre work because it is just easier to do. We go to work and just do the minimum needing to be done to get through the day, allowing us to collect a paycheck and come back to keep producing the minimum. We don't take pride in what we do and greatness isn't expected. As long as we show up to work on time (which is a whole other issue) and are present more than we are absent, many of us are considered good employees. What does this say about our society?

This mentality starts in school and continues on into the workforce. We aren't ever expected to be great, so very few of us ever do anything great. We live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world and we spend most of our time dwelling in mediocrity. Those who produce great work often do it in spite of their environment or what is expected of them. They are the outliers and instead of looking to them for guidance on how to be better, we label them as anomalies. 

What if we went to work each day and actually tried to produce the best things we could? How would the world be different if we strive to produce the best products, offer the best customer service and dream of things better than before? Where would we be if we just held everyone (and everyone held themselves) to higher standards? Imagine a world where labels like overachiever had positive connotations, instead of negative ones. How about one where quality mattered more than quantity? 

What do we have to do to produce our best work on a daily basis? How much better would life be if we were energized to show up to work instead of counting the hours until it ended? The change has to start in each and every one of us. We have to find passion in what we do, even if it is just the passion of doing the best work possible. Mediocrity should no longer be acceptable. Once we change our mentality, we can start changing the environment at work.

Stop settling and instead start creating something great. Hold yourself to a higher standard than you are being held to. Come to work and produce the best products and offer the best service you can. Just produce exceptional work every chance you get. Be an anomaly and do more than is expected. Encourage everyone around you to do the same. The world doesn't need more mediocrity. The world needs greatness. 

Good Enough

How did we get so good at doing just enough work to get by? I see this form of self-sabotage all the time and often notice it in myself. We aren't pushing forward as hard as we can. We aren't changing things to make them better. We aren't holding other people accountable when they refuse to do the best work possible. Mediocrity is becoming the norm in every industry.

"Good enough" needs to be eliminated from our lexicon. This doesn't mean we have to strive for perfection in everything we do, but we should constantly search to improve what we offer. "Good enough" eliminates the need for new ideas and new ways to offer services. As we have embraced this idea of things being "good enough", we have seen the quality services and products offered decline. The exceptions to this are the outliers, the companies and people who realize "good enough" really isn't.

Making changes, pushing the envelope, striving for greatness...these are the ideas pushing innovation and allowing some people and companies to stand above the rest. When you receive exceptional service or find a breathtaking product, "good enough" never entered the minds of those offering the service or designing and building the product. They realized consumers will pay for the exceptional. In fact, even if we don't know it, we crave the exceptional. In the days of big box stores and large quantities of cheap crap proliferating homes, this may be hard to believe, but we do crave the exceptional.

Striving for the exceptional does not mean you have wait to offer your services or products until you know you have something exceptional. Stick you neck out there and see what happens. Learn from others. Figure out what works and what doesn't. If something doesn't work, change it. If something does work, see if there are ways to make it work better. Don't dwell on mistakes or causes of problems, learn quickly, think on your feet and improve things. You are never going to be perfect, but I am sure you can offer something better than what is out there now.

Do you really want to be known as "good enough"?